Plaintiffs Renew Challenge to Trump's $1.8 Billion Fund and IRS Immunity Deal
Updated
Updated · ms.now · Aug 6
Plaintiffs Renew Challenge to Trump's $1.8 Billion Fund and IRS Immunity Deal
3 articles · Updated · ms.now · Aug 6
Summary
An amended complaint filed Thursday says Trump’s IRS immunity arrangement and the nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund remain unlawful despite DOJ claims that the fund is dead and the immunity terms were narrowed.
The suit adds the National Treasury Employees Union, arguing IRS auditors could be forced to end audits of Trump, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization—risking either criminal liability for compliance or retaliation for refusal.
Todd Blanche’s Sunday posting narrowed immunity to the lawsuit’s named parties, but plaintiffs say the unsigned document is not legally binding and no signed DOJ order has formally rescinded the broader May 19 protections.
The filing also says Blanche’s signed order killing the fund left loopholes because it did not swear the fund would never proceed under any name, echoing concerns Judge Leonie Brinkema raised in June.
Brinkema already blocked steps to create the fund, and the new complaint—filed a week before a hearing on DOJ’s dismissal bid—could complicate or delay that next court fight.
Can a single legal settlement permanently rewrite the rules of federal tax enforcement?
Breaking the IRS: Trump’s $1.8 Billion Audit Immunity Deal, Judicial Reversal, and the Union’s Historic Legal Challenge
Overview
The IRS Workers Union lawsuit marks a major new challenge to the Trump administration’s controversial tax settlement. After Trump sued the IRS for $10 billion over leaked tax returns, his administration arranged a deal granting him permanent audit immunity and proposing a large fund, sparking bipartisan outrage and the resignation of the Treasury’s general counsel. Judge Kathleen Williams voided the settlement, restoring the IRS’s audit authority and referring Trump’s lawyers for discipline. Now, the IRS union is suing to protect employees from being forced to violate federal tax law, highlighting the threat to civil service independence and the rule of law.