President Donald Trump and his family have filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Treasury Department, seeking $10 billion in damages over the alleged leak of their confidential tax information.
The plaintiffs, apart from Trump, include his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, managed by the sons.
Lawsuit Alleges ‘Reputational And Financial’ Damage
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, alleges that the IRS and the Treasury Department failed to stop the unauthorized disclosure of their tax records by former IRS employee Charles "Chaz" Littlejohn in 2019 and 2020.
Littlejohn, now serving a five-year prison sentence, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to illegally disclosing tax return information, including Trump's tax records, to The New York Times and data on wealthy individuals to ProPublica.
According to the lawsuit, Littlejohn admitted in a 2024 deposition to sharing Trump-related business information with ProPublica, and alleges that ProPublica's reporting falsely suggested the tax records showed signs of fraud.
Allegations in the lawsuit state that the defendants caused reputational and financial damage by “public embarrassment” of the plaintiffs, harming their business reputations, portraying them falsely, and negatively impacting their public standing.
The IRS and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s requests for comment.
Trump’s Previous Legal Battles
This lawsuit comes days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent canceled all contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH), a management consulting firm, citing failures to protect sensitive taxpayer data and a past breach that exposed confidential tax information.
Notably, in October, The New York Times had reported that Trump demanded $230 million from the Department of Justice over investigations into the FBI's 2022 Mar-a-Lago search for classified documents and the earlier probe into possible links between his 2016 campaign and Russia. Trump said he was unaware of the specific amounts and had not discussed the claims with officials, but insisted he was owed significant money and suggested that, despite Justice Department review procedures, the final decision rests with him.
Earlier this month, Trump said he plans to sue JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) over the sudden closure of his bank accounts following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, accusing the bank of improperly "debanking" him.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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