Trump Files $10bn Lawsuit Against IRS and Treasury Department Over Tax Return Leak

Donald Trump and his associates filed a $10bn lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the US Treasury Department on Thursday, alleging they failed to prevent the leak of Trump's tax returns to media outlets.

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On Thursday, former President Donald Trump and his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, along with their namesake company, filed a $10bn lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the US Treasury Department. The lawsuit, filed in Miami federal court, accuses the agencies of negligence and failure to take "mandatory precautions" to prevent former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn from leaking their tax returns to "leftist media outlets," including the New York Times and ProPublica, in 2019 and 2020 [1].

The filing alleges that the agencies breached their duty of care by granting Littlejohn, a former IRS employee, access to the tax returns, despite being aware of his "history of unauthorized disclosures." The lawsuit further alleges that the agencies "had a legal duty to protect the confidentiality of Plaintiffs' tax records."

The tax returns, which were obtained and published by the media outlets, revealed significant financial details about Trump's business dealings and income. The New York Times published a series of articles based on the leaked tax returns in October 2019, while ProPublica published a story in March 2020.

Trump's tax returns had long been a subject of public interest, with Trump himself refusing to release them during his presidency, citing ongoing audits. The leaked returns fueled renewed scrutiny of Trump's business dealings and finances, and raised questions about potential conflicts of interest and tax evasion.

The lawsuit comes as part of an ongoing effort by Trump to limit the release of his tax records. In 2020, the Supreme Court rejected Trump's attempt to prevent the Manhattan District Attorney's office from obtaining his tax returns [2].

The IRS and the Treasury Department have not yet responded to the lawsuit. However, in a statement to The Guardian, a Treasury Department spokesperson said, "The Treasury Department does not comment on ongoing litigation."

This is not the first time that Trump has sued over the leak of his tax returns. In 2019, he filed a lawsuit against Mazars, the accounting firm that had prepared his tax returns, seeking to prevent them from complying with a subpoena from the House Ways and Means Committee [3].

The lawsuit against the IRS and Treasury Department marks the latest chapter in the saga surrounding Trump's tax returns and raises questions about the agencies' role in protecting the confidentiality of taxpayer information.

References:

[1] The Guardian. (2026, January 29). Trump sues tax return leak suspect and Treasury for $10bn. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/trump-sues-tax-return-leak

[2] CNN. (2020, July 10). Supreme Court rejects Trump's bid to block Manhattan DA from getting tax returns. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/10/politics/supreme-court-trump-tax-returns/index.html

[3] Reuters. (2019, February 6). Trump sues accounting firm Mazars to block NY congressional subpoena for tax returns. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-accounting/trump-sues-accounting-firm-mazars-to-block-ny-congressional-subpoena-for-tax-returns-idUSKBN1K920O.