Trump Lawyers Enter Settlement Talks With IRS Over $10 Billion Tax Leak Lawsuit
In a federal court filing in Florida on April 17, Trump’s legal team requested a 90-day pause in the litigation to allow the parties to pursue a potential settlement or other resolution.
Tommy Flynn
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for President Donald Trump, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization have begun discussions with the Internal Revenue Service aimed at resolving a $10 billion lawsuit filed over the unauthorized leak of the president’s confidential tax records to news outlets.
In a federal court filing in Florida on April 17, Trump’s legal team requested a 90-day pause in the litigation to allow the parties to pursue a potential settlement or other resolution. The filing stated the pause “will neither prejudice the parties nor delay ultimate resolution” and would instead “promote judicial economy.”
The lawsuit, filed earlier this year in U.S. District Court in Florida, accuses the IRS of failing to safeguard Trump’s and the Trump Organization’s private tax information, which was leaked to The New York Times and ProPublica between 2018 and 2020. The leaks included details showing Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and no federal income tax in several other years due to reported business losses.
The leaks were traced to former IRS contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn, a Booz Allen Hamilton employee who pleaded guilty in 2024 and was sentenced to five years in prison. Prosecutors said he improperly accessed and disclosed the records.
Trump has said any damages recovered would likely be donated to charity. In February he told reporters, “I think what we’ll do is do something for charity. We could make it a substantial amount.”
The case has drawn scrutiny from government ethics groups. Watchdog organization Democracy Forward filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing the suit presents unusual conflicts because the president effectively controls both sides of the litigation through the executive branch and the Department of Justice.
No details on the substance of the current talks have been released, and neither the IRS nor the Treasury Department has commented publicly. The request for a 90-day stay remains pending before the judge.
The development marks the latest chapter in the long-running dispute over the handling of presidential tax returns during Trump’s first term and the subsequent leaks that became a political flashpoint.
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