Donald Trump is facing fresh scrutiny in Miami and Washington after court records showed he sought to sue the Internal Revenue Service, enter a settlement with his own Justice Department and secure sweeping immunity for himself and his sons. The Donald Trump case has become a striking test of how far a sitting president can push the machinery of government before judges decide the whole thing has gone too far.
For context, the dispute began on 29 January when Trump, his eldest sons and the Trump Organization filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and the Treasury Department in federal court in Miami. They said the agencies failed to protect confidential tax data after IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn leaked years of Trump family returns to the New York Times and ProPublica, along with records belonging to more than 7,000 other wealthy Americans. Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October 2023 to unauthorised disclosures and received a five-year prison sentence.
