Trump's lawyers say they're 'in discussions' to resolve his $10B suit against the IRS
Attorneys for President Donald Trump say they are "in discussions" with the Department of Justice to potentially resolve a $10 billion lawsuit that Trump, two of his sons, and his company filed against the Internal Revenue Service earlier this year.
According to a court filing on Friday, lawyers for the Trumps requested a deadline extension so they can "engage in discussions designed to resolve this matter and to avoid protracted litigation."
President Trump, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department in January related to the unauthorized disclosure of tax information during Trump's first term.
A government contractor with the IRS pleaded guilty in 2023 to stealing the tax information of Donald Trump and other wealthy Americans and leaking it to media outlets in 2019 and 2020.
"Defendants have caused Plaintiffs reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiffs' public standing," the Trumps said in their lawsuit, which requested $10 billion in damages.
"The Parties are engaging in discussions and need time to work through how to ensure those discussions can take place productively to avoid protracted litigation," the attorneys said in Friday's filing with the consent of the DOJ lawyers. "This brief period will allow the Parties to initiate and structure those discussions in a manner that best serves the interests of all Parties and the Court."
The Department of Justice had not yet responded to the lawsuit and faced an impending deadline this month. Friday's filing said both sides agreed to the 90-day extension.
A group of former government officials last month filed an amicus brief with the court to raise concerns about the ethics of the president suing his own government for billions.
"This case is extraordinary because the President controls both sides of the litigation, which raises the prospect of collusive litigation tactics," the amicus filing said. "To treat this case like business as usual would threaten the integrity of the justice system and the important taxpayer and privacy protections at the heart of this case."
The Trumps, in the suit, argued that the IRS and Treasury Department should have had "appropriate technical, employee screening, security, and monitoring" to prevent the theft of tax information.
