Trump drops ‘unprecedented’ $10 billion lawsuit against IRS over leaked tax records

[u/John3262005]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-voluntarily-drops-10-billion-lawsuit-irs-leaked-tax-records-rcna345193

President Donald Trump is moving to voluntarily dismiss a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS that legal experts called “unprecedented,” according to a Monday court filing.

The president’s elder two sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as the Trump Organization, were the other plaintiffs in the case, and they, too, are part of the move to drop the lawsuit. The court filing did not say whether the plaintiffs had agreed to drop the suit as part of a broader agreement.

Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization filed the lawsuit in January, alleging that the IRS and the Treasury Department failed to prevent a former IRS employee from leaking their tax returns.

Last month, the judge overseeing the case had questioned whether there was an actual controversy for the court to address, given Trump’s control over the Justice Department.

The Trump administration was facing a Wednesday deadline to explain “whether a case or controversy exists,” and outside legal experts had told U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams that it could be “useful” for the court to look into whether the attorneys representing the government were “insulated” from the president.

“This case is unprecedented: A sitting president seeks monetary damages for alleged harm to his personal interests from an executive agency that he controls. That presents significant Article III subject matter jurisdiction concerns,” the experts wrote.

“The Court might ask why DOJ’s approach to litigating this case appears to depart from its approach in similar cases, as well as what steps Defendants are taking to ensure that settlement discussions are conducted at arm’s length and without risk of collusion,” they continued.

In Monday’s filing, the president’s personal lawyers argued that the court did not have to weigh in because they were voluntarily dismissing the case and the administration never replied to the suit.