Trump sues IRS and Treasury Department for $10B over leaked tax returns to media

MIAMI, FLORIDA: President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department, accusing them of an illegal leak of his tax returns during his first administration. He is reportedly demanding at least $10 billion in damages in the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida on Thursday, January 29.

The suit has been filed by the Republican leader in his personal capacity and not as the president. The other plaintiffs included in the suit are his sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, as well as the Trump Organization.

Trump team calls Charles 'Chaz' Littlejohn a 'rogue, politically-motivated employee'

In a statement, Trump’s legal team said, “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 statement was referring to former IRS contractor Charles “Chaz” Littlejohn, who leaked Trump's tax records. Trump's lawsuit states that both the IRS and the Treasury Department "had a duty to safeguard and protect" such leaks but "failed to take such mandatory precautions."

It added, “From May 2019 through at least September 2020, former IRS employee Charles ‘Chaz’ Littlejohn, who was jointly employed by the IRS and/or one of its contractors, illegally obtained access to, and disclosed Plaintiffs’ tax returns and return information to the New York Times, ProPublica, and other leftist media outlets.”

Trump on a mission to hold those 'who wrong America' accountable

Moreover, a Trump spokesperson said, “President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”

Littlejohn is currently serving a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the unauthorized disclosures of income tax returns. 

The POTUS' legal team claims Littlejohn's actions resulted in "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."

In 2024, the IRS issued a statement, calling out the former contractor's actions.

“Any improper access or disclosure of confidential taxpayer information is unacceptable, and it is completely at odds with the IRS’s values and the agency’s commitment to taxpayers,” the statement read, before adding further that “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.”

Treasury Department cut ties with Booz Allen Hamilton

In addition, a few days ago, the Treasury Department cancelled contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton, a government contractor that hired Littlejohn.

Commenting on the move, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Booz Allen failed to implement adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, including the confidential taxpayer information it had access to through its contracts with the Internal Revenue Service.”