Judge: Trump sought to 'manipulate the judicial process' with his IRS lawsuit and attempted $1.8B fund

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Source: CNN

A federal judge Monday said a controversial lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump against the IRS sought to “manipulate the judicial process” and that he acted in bad faith in bringing it.

US District Judge Kathleen Williams is ordering sanctions for the attorneys involved in the lawsuit, which led to an attempt to create the now-defunct $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for allies of the president. It was also used to justify a Trump administration order giving Trump and his businesses amnesty for any past tax issues.

Williams’ 56-page opinion blasted the behavior of both the Justice Department — arguing that the administration’s response to the case disregarded DOJ policies and potentially the law — and of the private attorneys who brought the lawsuit on Trump’s behalf.

“The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law,” the judge wrote.

She ordered that her opinion be submitted to attorney disciplinary boards in in New York and Washington, DC, that are currently reviewing pre-existing professional ethics complaints against acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/13/politics/trump-irs-judge-ruling-settlement-sanctions

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[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Federal judge in Florida has released a scathing takedown of Trump's slush fund,

This opinion will be fun reading

Link to tweet

Federal judge in Florida has released a scathing takedown of Trump's slush fund, Trump's sweetheart IRS immunity deal and the lawsuit Trump filed against his own IRS

Judge orders sanctions and possible bar discipline against Trump's lawyers in lawsuit

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Judge blasts Trump's IRS lawsuit as filed for 'improper purpose,' recommends attorney discipline

The recommendation for attorney discipline made me smile

A federal judge said Trump’s IRS lawsuit over leaked tax returns was for an “improper purpose” and referred his attorneys for disciplinary actions. Judge Kathleen Williams characterized it as an exercise in self-dealing in which Trump sued an entity he controls.
apnews.com/article/trum...

— Tim O’Brien (@timobrien.bsky.social) 2026-07-13T16:12:58.716Z

https://apnews.com/article/trump-irs-justice-department-61adebe5de8982eb214b30889ad4f251

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns was filed for an “improper purpose,” a judge said Monday in a scathing decision that recommended attorney sanctions and disciplinary action.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams amounts to a stinging rebuke of the Republican president’s lawsuit, characterizing it as an exercise in self-dealing in which he sued an entity that is effectively under his control.

The suit concluded in May with a settlement agreement that created a since-abandoned $1.776 billion fund meant to compensate allies of the president, as well as immunity from tax audits.

“The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law,” the judge wrote.

[Ocelot II]

3. Link to the order:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.106.0.pdf

A must read!

[ultralite001]

17. Thank you for this...

TIA

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Williams makes clear in a footnote that she lacks the power to prevent DOJ and Trump from entering into a private deal.

Harry Litman
‪@harrylitman.bsky.social‬

Follow
Williams makes clear in a footnote that she lacks the power to prevent DOJ and Trump from entering into a private deal, but all that means is that DOJ could try to just do a brazen giveaway of 1.6B to insurrectionists and 100M amnesty to Trump in exchange for nothing. Just raw raid of public money.
12:43 PM · Jul 13, 2026

Williams makes clear in a footnote that she lacks the power to prevent DOJ and Trump from entering into a private deal, but all that means is that DOJ could try to just do a brazen giveaway of 1.6B to insurrectionists and 100M amnesty to Trump in exchange for nothing. Just raw raid of public money.

— Harry Litman (@harrylitman.bsky.social) 2026-07-13T16:43:22.211Z

[Martin68]

9. A private deal between Trump and the DOJ would be a crime.

[sop]

12. It seems everyone lacks the power to prevent Trump from robbing us blind.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. The Judge referred Blanche, another DOJ asshole attorney and a private attorney to the various bar associations

Referring Blanche to the bar just before his confirmation hearing makes me smile

Link to tweet

BREAKING

A federal judge NULLIFIES the purported “settlement” behind Trump’s $1.776B slush fund, finding there was never a “case or controversy” — and referring his attorney for possible professional discipline.

Doc https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.106.0.pdf

[BaronChocula]

6. Ed Exley and Rollo Tomasi

You can skip to 1:15 for the point of the clip. It's about people who get away with it.

[ColoringFool]

14. Fantastic movie!

[BaronChocula]

19. had to watch it several times to get the facts straight

So yeah. I bought the DVD many years ago.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. MaddowBlog-Judge questions whether Trump can sue his own administration for $10 billion

If the president was waiting for a payout from his IRS lawsuit, a federal judge suggested he might need to start lowering his expectations.

Judge questions whether Trump can sue his own administration for billion

www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Mike Walker (@newnarrative.bsky.social) 2026-04-27T19:11:24.754Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/judge-questions-whether-trump-can-sue-his-own-administration-for-10-billion

In response to highly dubious civil lawsuits, the Trump Justice Department has been exceedingly generous lately, agreeing to lucrative settlements with plaintiffs who are politically aligned with the White House. Whether Donald Trump will be among the beneficiaries, however, remains an open question.

A federal judge suggested late last week that the president might have to lower his expectations. Politico reported:

President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leaking of his tax returns ran into turbulence Friday as a judge ordered a hearing on whether the Constitution allows the president to sue the federal government he oversees.

U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams has asked Trump’s private attorneys and Justice Department lawyers representing the IRS to address whether his control over the government’s actions in the case means it’s the kind of dispute federal courts cannot consider.

“Although President Trump avers that he is bringing this lawsuit in his personal capacity, he is the sitting president and his named adversaries are entities whose decisions are subject to his direction,” Williams wrote in a four-page order.

“It is unclear to this Court whether the Parties are sufficiently adverse to each other so as to satisfy Article III’s case or controversy requirement,” the judge added, referring to the Constitution.....

Shortly after his lawyers filed the case, the president told reporters that he assumed “nobody would care” if he received a lucrative payout as part of the frivolous litigation. That payout now appears in doubt. Watch this space.

We spent maybe part of one Constitutional law class on the case or controversy provision of the Constitution. This usually came up in the cases dealing with advisory opinions. Here is the relevant part of the US Constitution

Article III, Section 2, Clause 1:

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State, between Citizens of different States,—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

Since trump is on both sides of this silly lawsuit, there is no Case or Controversy. This opinion made me smile. I suspect that future Con law classes will be spending more time on this provision of the US Constitution.

[Martin68]

8. Well...duh! Nice to have a judge who is sane and knowledgeable about the law.

[Bayard]

10. Excellent!

How far will this be appealed now?

[ShazzieB]

11. Trump trying to manipulate the judicial process?

Whatever do you mean!

J/K, obviously!

This is an excellent decision, and I applaud it! Especially this part:

She ordered that her opinion be submitted to attorney disciplinary boards in in New York and Washington, DC, that are currently reviewing pre-existing professional ethics complaints against acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.

Here's hoping they both lose their licenses to practice law!

[ColoringFool]

13. That is the face of evil right there, people. Those eyes are cruel.

[70sEraVet]

15. "Tyrant Believes Nation's Money is HIS Money!"

[FakeNoose]

16. Chump sues his own government, loses, and takes the money from Uncle Sam

... OR ... he wins, and takes the money from Uncle Sam. Sound about right?

This Judge Kathleen Williams is finally putting Chump's lawsuit in the correct light. Namely - it's all a scam.

[ultralite001]

18. Great reading...

Appreciated this section (p 33-34)

The gravamen of the “settlement agreement” is to fund claims premised on events including those arising from, inter alia, the Mar-a-Lago Documents Case and the events of January 6, 2021.46 Indeed, these two cases have been referenced as quintessential Anti-Weaponization and Lawfare claims.47 Instead of either recusing48 because of their previous representations or vigorously defending this lawsuit as required to do so by DOJ

policies and procedures,49 these lawyers agreed to a “settlement” involving a staggering amount of money potentially benefitting former clients.

Moreover, the Release Order, signed only by Acting Attorney General Blanche, extends a blanket grant of immunity to all Plaintiffs and their families and “affiliates,” and precludes all “current or possible” investigations or actions before any other agencies or departments.50 The Release Order also purports to bar the IRS from conducting any future tax audits of President Trump, his sons, and their entities.51 This provision directly contravenes 26 U.S.C. § 7217, titled “Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations,” which states:

It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

20. MaddowBlog-Judge slams Trump-IRS 'settlement,' refers attorney for possible disciplinary actions

The president probably thought his $10 billion case against the IRS was over. That was before a federal court found his lawyers acted in “bad faith.”

A federal judge set out to investigate “grievous allegations” in the Trump-IRS case.

She apparently did not like what she discovered, concluding that Trump and his lawyers acted “in bad faith” and filed a civil suit “for an improper purpose.”
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-07-13T17:37:12.625Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-irs-settlement-sanctions-lawyers-leaked-tax-returns

By now, Donald Trump has probably grown accustomed to legal setbacks in court, though his case against the IRS has started to backfire in ways the president didn’t see coming. The Associated Press reported:

A federal judge said Monday that President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over his leaked tax returns was filed for an “improper purpose” as she referred attorneys for disciplinary actions.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams amounts to a stinging rebuke of the Republican president’s lawsuit, characterizing it as an exercise in self-dealing in which he sued an entity that is effectively under his control.

.....More than a month later, she apparently did not like what she discovered, concluding that Trump and his lawyers acted “in bad faith” and filed a civil suit “for an improper purpose.”

“The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law,” Williams wrote.

The judge also prohibited the parties from even referring to it as a “settlement.”

Just as notably, as CNBC reported, Williams “referred Trump’s lawyer in the lawsuit, Alejandro Brito, to the Florida bar for consideration on whether Brito should be disciplined in light of the findings in the new order.” The judge also “ordered that a copy of her ruling be mailed to the State Bar of New York, of which Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is a member, as well as to the District of Columbia Bar, of which Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward is a member.”

I am looking forward to Blanche's confirmation hearing. One of the questions may be to find out if a disbarred attorney can be Attorney General

[mdbl]

21. One good judge in bizarro world

I hope she is safe and protected. It's hard to find a judge who actually uses the law in her decisions.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

22. Trump got his hand slapped while reaching in the cookie jar.

[DrFunkenstein]

23. Trump Never Said WHERE He Was Going To Drain The Swamp

It slipped his mind that it was going to drain into his pocket.

[Lasher]

24. For the thread:

US judge voids Donald Trump's $1.8bn settlement with IRS that gave him immunity from tax audits

A US judge has voided a legal agreement between President Donald Trump and federal agencies that granted him immunity from tax audits and allowed his administration to create a since-abandoned $1.8bn (£1.3bn) "anti-weaponisation" fund.

The fund, intended to compensate individuals claiming they were unfairly targeted by the government, was unveiled in May in exchange for Trump dropping his personal $10bn lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

But on Monday, US District Judge Kathleen Williams said the suit was filed for an improper purpose.

She also referred a Trump lawyer to state authorities to determine whether ethics rules were violated and disciplinary action required.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8q0e8d4ego

[yellow dahlia]

25. I've heard segments of the ruling read on MSNOW. A brilliant and eloquent ruling!