Judge Voids Trump-IRS Settlement After Finding No Adverseness Between Parties

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a 56-page order on July 13 voiding a settlement between President Trump and the IRS that had established a $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund and provided immunity from tax audits for the president, his sons, the Trump Organization, and related parties.

Williams found that the parties were never adverse and that no case or controversy existed. "In sum, the facts before this Court demonstrate there was never adverseness between the Parties; there was never a case or controversy," she wrote.

The settlement, reached in late May, would have permanently blocked the IRS from auditing past tax claims by President Trump and his family. Trump had sued the IRS for $10 billion in January, alleging the agency failed to keep his tax returns private after a contractor leak.

Williams barred the parties from referring to the settlement or using its provisions in any official proceedings. She ordered monetary sanctions to be paid to former federal judges who intervened and non-monetary sanctions in the case. The judge referred attorney Alejandro Brito to the Florida Bar for potential disciplinary action.

She also directed a copy of the order to ongoing disciplinary proceedings against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.