Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said on Sunday he would rather see the Internal Revenue Service aggressively investigate who leaked President Donald Trump's tax returns than pay out the $10 billion the president is seeking in a new lawsuit against the agency.
Johnson Urges Probe Over Massive IRS Payout
On CNN's "State of the Union," Johnson told host Dana Bash, "I don't doubt the federal government deserves to be sued. The problem is, we don't have $10 billion. My preference would be to do a robust investigation, find out who leaked those tax returns." He added, "That's a federal crime, and punish those individuals to the full extent of the law."
Trump Family Sues IRS Over Tax Safeguards
Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization sued the IRS and the Treasury Department in federal court in Miami last Thursday, alleging the agencies failed to "establish necessary administrative, technical, and physical safeguards over its systems of records" and seeking $10 billion in damages over disclosures in 2019 and 2020.
The leaks came from Charles Edward Littlejohn, an IRS contractor who admitted giving Trump's tax information and data on hundreds of thousands of wealthy Americans to The New York Times and ProPublica. He pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and was sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison, the maximum allowed.
In response, the Treasury Department last week canceled 31 contracts worth about $21 million with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH), where Littlejohn worked when he accessed the records.
Contractor's Leak And Legal Clock Raise Stakes
Trump is said to have broken modern precedent in 2016 by refusing to release his returns. A 2020 investigation by the Times, based on the leaked data, found he paid $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017 and no income tax in 10 of the previous 15 years, in part because he reported heavy business losses.
The new lawsuit relies on a federal statute that allows taxpayers to sue the government for unauthorized disclosures made "knowingly, or by reason of negligence," but generally requires claims to be filed within two years. The Trumps argue they did not know Littlejohn was the source until IRS notices sent to Trump Jr. and Eric Trump in December 2024, and say the clock should start then.
If they prevail, taxpayers would fund any award, an outcome critics have flagged as an extraordinary potential transfer of public money to the sitting president and his family.
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