DOJ’s settlement with Trump bans IRS from taking action against him over old tax returns
The Internal Revenue Service is permanently barred from pursuing claims against President Trump or his company based on past tax returns, under a controversial settlement agreement reached by the Justice Department to resolve a lawsuit filed by Mr. Trump.
In a one-page document signed by Attorney General Todd Blanche and dated Tuesday, the Justice Department said the defendants in the president’s lawsuit — the IRS and the Treasury Department — are “FEVER PROHIBITED and PROHIBITED” from “pursuing or pursuing any claims” arising from tax returns filed before the settlement took effect Monday.
The agreement also protects Mr. Trump from allegations related to “entitlement and/or militarization.”
It covers all the plaintiffs in the president’s lawsuit against the IRS, including Mr. Trump, the Trump Organization and the president’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
Mr. Trump has declared publicly that he was the subject of frequent IRS audits before running for president, saying in early 2016: “Every year they audit me, audit me, audit me.” » His tax returns have long been a subject to scrutiny from Democratsin part because Mr. Trump refused to voluntarily release them in 2016, unlike most leading presidential candidates.
A Justice Department spokesperson said the agreement did not apply to future tax audits.
“As is typical in settlements, both parties have waived various claims that have been or could have been filed,” the spokesperson told CBS News. “There would be no point in settling multiple significant claims if either party could simply turn around and seek to pursue more adverse claims that may have been brought previously.”
The newly released document expands the known scope of Monday’s settlement agreement, which the government reached this week to resolve a $10 billion lawsuit brought by the president earlier this year following a leak of his tax returns. As part of the deal, the Justice Department agreed to create a $1.776 billion “Anti-Arms Fund” that can offer monetary payments to people who claim to have been victims of government “legal warfare.”
Mr. Trump will also receive a formal government apology, but no monetary payment.
The deal has come under scrutiny, both because it is essentially an agreement between the president and his own government, and because it we still don’t know who will benefit financially of the Anti-Arms Fund – or whether Trump’s allies will be paid. The progressive nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called the settlement “the most brazen act of selfishness in the history of the presidency.”
It is possible that former Trump administration figures who were the subject of federal investigations will seek relief. Some Jan. 6 riot defendants who Mr. Trump pardoned en masse last year could seek relief. Texas flower shop owner who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charge related to Capitol riot told CBS News that “all J6ers will demand restitution.”
Blanche and other Justice Department officials defended the deal. The department said in a statement Monday that “there are no partisan requirements to file a claim.” Deputy Attorney General Stanley Woodward emphasized that settlement decisions will be made by a committee of five people appointed by the attorney general.
“Frankly, I think we should be excited about injecting more accountability into the process, instead of having one person sign off on deals,” Woodward said Tuesday at an unrelated news conference.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said in a statement that Mr. Trump “is entering into this agreement clearly in the best interests of the American people, and he will continue his fight to hold accountable those who harm America and Americans.”
The president’s lawsuit accused the IRS of failing to protect his tax returns by allowing a government contractor to release the documents to the media in 2020. The contractor, Charles Littlejohn, was sentenced to prison in 2024 for sharing Mr. Trump’s tax returns with the New York Times. Prosecutors also accused Littlejohn to send tax information to the investigative media outlet ProPublica, which has reported on the tax records of Mr. Trump and other billionaires.
