Trump’s lawyers seeking resolution of his $10 billion lawsuit against IRS and Treasury
By Aleena Fayaz, CNN
(CNN) — Lawyers for President Donald Trump are engaged in discussions with the IRS and the Treasury Department in an effort to resolve his $10 billion lawsuit accusing the agencies of an unauthorized leak of his tax information during his first administration.
Trump’s lawyers disclosed the conversations in a court filing Friday asking a Florida district court for a 90 day extension to allow the parties to engage in discussions and avoid a drawn-out legal process.
“This limited pause will neither prejudice the Parties nor delay ultimate resolution. Rather, the extension will promote judicial economy and allow the Parties to explore avenues that could narrow or resolve the issues efficiently,” the filing states.
The lawsuit – which Trump filed personally, not in his official capacity as president – has sparked conflict of interest concerns given his oversight of the federal agencies he is suing. Further, if the case resolves with any monetary settlement, it would be Trump’s own administration paying him and his family.
News of the talks come after another settlement stirred controversy last month when the Justice Department agreed to pay Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn more than $1 million to resolve his wrongful prosecution case.
CNN has reached out to the Treasury Department and Justice Department for comment. The IRS deferred a request for comment to the Justice Department.
The president, along with his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, filed suit in January, alleging that the government failed to protect his and the Trump Organization’s confidential tax information, which was leaked to the press by Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor.
Littlejohn, who worked as a government contractor at Booz Allen Hamilton, illegally obtained and disclosed Trump’s tax returns to publications like the New York Times and ProPublica, the suit alleged.
In 2024, Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison for disclosing thousands of tax returns without authorization – from Trump and other wealthy individuals.
Trump’s legal team alleged that the IRS is legally responsible for Littlejohn’s actions because he had “staff-like access to tax returns and confidential tax return information” and exploited longstanding security failures that the IRS had been warned about but had gone uncorrected.
During Trump’s first term, his refusal to release his tax returns, breaking a decadeslong tradition for presidential candidates, became a focal point for critics. In 2022, six years of Trump’s tax returns were made public by the House Ways and Means Committee after a legal fight over their disclosure reached the Supreme Court.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
