Trump Sues IRS And Treasury For Ten Billion Dollars

In a dramatic legal move that has captured national attention, President Donald Trump, his two eldest sons, and the Trump Organization have filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Treasury Department, alleging that both agencies failed to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of their confidential tax information. The suit, filed on January 29, 2026, in a federal court in Miami, seeks to hold the government accountable for what the plaintiffs describe as a catastrophic breach of privacy and public trust.

The roots of this legal saga trace back to 2019 and 2020, when Charles "Chaz" Littlejohn, then an IRS contractor, illegally accessed and leaked the tax returns of President Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization to major news outlets including The New York Times and ProPublica. Littlejohn's actions led to a series of high-profile stories that scrutinized Trump’s finances and tax history. In October 2023, Littlejohn pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax return information and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2024, according to ABC News and CNBC.

The lawsuit alleges that the IRS and Treasury failed in their "duty to safeguard and protect Plaintiffs’ confidential tax returns and related tax return information from such unauthorized inspection and public disclosure." The complaint goes on to state that the government’s negligence caused "reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiffs’ public standing." This language is echoed in court documents and public statements from Trump’s legal team, who argue that the IRS "wrongly allowed a rogue, politically-motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization to the New York Times, ProPublica and other left-wing news outlets, which was then illegally released to millions of people."

The legal action comes on the heels of the Treasury Department’s decision to cancel all contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton, the consulting firm that employed Littlejohn. According to The Hill, prosecutors revealed that Littlejohn deliberately sought his IRS contracting role with the intention of accessing and leaking tax returns. His leaks ultimately fueled investigative reports that put a spotlight on President Trump’s finances and raised questions about his tax practices.

Trump’s lawsuit is notable not only for its scale—at least $10 billion in damages—but also for its unprecedented nature. It is exceedingly rare for a sitting president to sue his own administration, raising a host of legal and ethical questions, including potential conflicts of interest. According to CNBC, Trump has made similar moves in the past, such as seeking $230 million from the Department of Justice as compensation for prior investigations into him. When asked about the possibility of being awarded damages, Trump told reporters, "it's awfully strange to make a decision where I'm paying myself," and suggested he would donate any awarded funds to charity or to the White House restoration.

Federal law does allow individuals to sue for breaches of taxpayer confidentiality, but such lawsuits must be filed within a two-year window. The Trumps argue that they only became aware of the IRS’s involvement after receiving formal notification from the Treasury Department, even though media outlets began publishing stories based on the leaked information as early as 2020. The lawsuit claims, "Plaintiffs had no reason to believe that an unauthorized disclosure had occurred for at least two reasons. First, the New York Times reporting did not state that the information came from the IRS, and second, the IRS Commissioner supposedly investigated and found that the disclosure did not come from the IRS."

The complaint also takes issue with the reporting that followed the leaks. In particular, the suit claims that ProPublica's coverage "falsely claimed that the records contained 'versions of fraud,'" a statement originally attributed to a finance professor interviewed by the outlet. The plaintiffs argue that such reporting portrayed them in a false light and exacerbated the reputational damage caused by the leaks.

After Littlejohn’s conviction, a federal judge described his actions as “an attack on our constitutional democracy,” underscoring the gravity of the breach. In response to the scandal, the IRS issued a statement in 2024 calling Littlejohn’s behavior “unacceptable,” and announced that it had taken aggressive steps to enhance data security. The agency stated, "It bears noting that the IRS has taken aggressive action more generally to enhance data security — to ensure, to the fullest extent feasible, that nothing like the Littlejohn incident can happen in the future."

Despite the high-profile nature of the case, the White House, IRS, and Treasury Department have not responded to requests for comment from various news outlets, including Axios and ABC News. The president is represented in the lawsuit by his personal lawyers, led by attorney Alex Britto. The case is set to pit Trump’s legal team against the Justice Department, which is tasked with defending the federal agencies named in the suit.

Trump’s legal team and supporters have framed the lawsuit as part of a broader pattern of politically motivated actions by federal agencies against the president. Trump has long accused the IRS of seeking to undermine him for political purposes, a claim that has fueled partisan debate over the agency's conduct and the broader issue of taxpayer privacy. Critics, meanwhile, have questioned the wisdom and optics of a sitting president seeking such a massive payout from the federal government, especially given the potential for American taxpayers to ultimately foot the bill.

While the legal battle is just beginning, its outcome could have far-reaching implications for data security, government accountability, and the boundaries of executive power. The case also raises fundamental questions about the balance between transparency, privacy, and the public’s right to know—questions that are likely to reverberate well beyond the courtroom.

As the lawsuit proceeds, all eyes will be on the Miami federal courthouse, where one of the most unusual legal showdowns in recent memory is set to unfold. The stakes are high, not just for President Trump and his family, but for the integrity of the systems meant to protect the privacy of every American taxpayer.