{"id":2631,"date":"2026-07-13T18:38:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=2631"},"modified":"2026-07-13T18:38:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:38:40","slug":"trump-administration-tried-to-manipulate-the-judicial-process-with-its-irs-settlement-judge-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=2631","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration tried to \u2018manipulate the judicial process\u2019 with its IRS settlement, judge says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s lawsuit against the IRS was brought in \u201cbad faith\u201d for an \u201cimproper purpose,\u201d a federal judge in Florida found as she slapped sanctions on some of those involved.<\/p>\n

Read more Ukraine and allies set up coalition to tackle Russia ballistic missile threat<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, said the lawsuit \u201cwas not brought to vindicate rights\u201d but to \u201cmanipulate the judicial process.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Williams pointed out that despite arguments to the contrary from Trump\u2019s attorney, these were not ordinary litigants. She noted that, as president, Trump has jurisdiction over the Justice Department, Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a review of the record, and the Parties\u2019 statements, the Court declines to adopt or accept the credulous exercise of divorcing President Trump\u2019s current job title from an understanding of what happened here,\u201d the judge wrote. <\/p>\n

She said the facts of the case show it was \u201can attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President,\u201d while spending billions of taxpayer dollars. <\/p>\n

She said the facts of the case demonstrate \u201cthere was never adverseness between the Parties; there was never a case or controversy; and there was never a question as to who would prevail.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cEven the Fund amount\u2014$1.776 billion\u2014speaks of a \u2018branding\u2019 effort rather than a deliberate and thoughtful calculation of damages,\u201d Williams wrote.<\/p>\n

She noted the Justice Department could have easily mounted a defense in the lawsuit because Trump waited too long to file his claim, but it instead chose to strike a deal. <\/p>\n

She ordered sanctions against a number of people involved, including acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. She directed a copy of her findings to be sent to the bar associations in New York and Washington D.C., \u201cwhere disciplinary proceedings are currently ongoing\u201d against Blanche and Woodward over alleged ethical violations.<\/p>\n

She also referred one of Trump\u2019s attorneys, Alejandro Brito, to the Florida bar association \u201cfor its consideration, review, and determination as to whether any disciplinary action is appropriate in light of the findings and rulings made in this Order.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Brito did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

She held that future applications by another lawyer involved in the negotiations, Daniel Z. Epstein, vice president of America First Legal, to join cases in the Southern District of Florida \u201cbe DENIED for one year or until further order of this Court.\u201d A request for comment was not immediately returned. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

A spokesperson for Trump\u2019s legal team said, \u201cThe IRS wrongly allowed a rogue, politically-motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization to the New York Times, ProPublica and other left-wing news outlets, which was then illegally released to millions of people. President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.\u201d <\/p>\n

Spokespeople for the Treasury Department and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Trump sued the IRS and the Treasury for $10 billion, alleging they failed to take necessary steps to prevent a former IRS subcontractor from improperly disclosing his tax returns, and those of his sons and his company, to news outlets. <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s attorneys voluntarily withdrew the case two days before they were scheduled to submit a filing explaining how it was proper. Blanche then announced that the both sides had reached an agreement establishing the the \u201canti-weaponization fund\u201d and making Trump and his family immune from IRS audits and investigations.<\/p>\n

Blanche later said that both sides had agreed to do away with the \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund, but he has refused requests from Congress to put that in a written declaration and has also not made a similar representation about the audit agreement. He\u2019s likely to get pressed on both issues at his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 order does not direct any action on the fund or immunity agreement, likely since they were struck without court approval, but she did direct that the government can\u2019t portray the deals as part of a judicial agreement. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

President Trump, the Trump Organization and anyone associated with Trump or the Trump Organization \u201care prohibited from referring to the purported \u2018settlement agreement,\u2019 or using, offering, admitting, or citing any of its provisions in any judicial, administrative, regulatory, arbitration, or any other official proceeding as evidence of a \u2018settlement\u2019 reached in this matter,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Read more Jay-Z apologizes after Yankee Stadium show starts hours late, says there was a safety issue<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge in Florida has found President Donald Trump\u2019s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service was brought in \u201cbad faith\u201d for an \u201cimproper purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-donald-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump administration tried to \u2018manipulate the judicial process\u2019 with its IRS settlement, judge says - Trusted Moving Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=2631\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump administration tried to \u2018manipulate the judicial process\u2019 with its IRS settlement, judge says - 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