A legal battle rooted in one of Washington’s most brazen data breaches has ended not with a courtroom verdict, but with a deal that critics are already calling an unprecedented use of taxpayer money. Donald Trump, along with his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump and the Trump Organization, voluntarily dismissed their $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS on Monday. The suit originated after a former IRS contractor illegally leaked Trump’s confidential tax returns to the New York Times and ProPublica during his first term. The contractor pleaded guilty and was sentenced to federal prison.
The contractor, Charles Littlejohn, leaked the tax information of Trump and thousands of other wealthy Americans, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Ken Griffin.
In exchange for dropping the suit, the Justice Department established a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund — the symbolic dollar figure echoing 1776 — that could pay claims from people who allege they were targeted by the Biden administration. Trump also agreed to withdraw two additional administrative claims, including those related to the Mar-a-Lago raid and the Russia investigation.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement, “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again.” He added, “As part of this settlement, we are setting up a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.”
Attorney Mark McCloskey, who has filed administrative claims for hundreds of January 6 defendants, told HuffPost he had advocated for exactly this kind of fund to compensate his clients.
The five-member commission overseeing the fund will process claims through December 15, 2028, with Trump retaining the power to remove any member. Democrats swiftly condemned the arrangement. Sen. Ron Wyden called it “the most brazen theft and abuse of taxpayer dollars by any president in American history.”
Trump himself will receive no monetary compensation under the settlement’s terms.
