President Donald Trump (R) has sued the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department for $10 billion over allegations that the agencies unlawfully allowed a contractor to leak his tax returns during the 2020 election cycle.
The complaint, filed by President Trump in his personal capacity, alleges that a former IRS employee “illegally obtained access to, and disclosed [his] tax returns and return information to the New York Times, ProPublica, and other leftist media outlets.”
Also plaintiffs in the lawsuit are his sons Eric and Don Jr., as well as the Trump Organization as a whole.
It is argued in the complaint that the agencies “were obligated to have appropriate
technical, employee screening, security, and monitoring systems to prevent [this] unlawful conduct” but “failed to take such mandatory precautions.”
“Defendants have caused Plaintiffs 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,” the lawsuit alleges.
In 2024, Charles Littlejohn pled guilty to leaking the President’s tax returns and was consequently sentenced to five years in prison.
Then a contractor at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, prosecutors said in court filings that Littlejohn “abused his position” and “weaponized his access to unmasked taxpayer data to further his own personal, political agenda, believing that he was above the law.”
This disclosure violated IRS Code 6103, one of the strictest confidentiality laws in federal statute, according to the Associated Press.
As outlined in the complaint, the President along with the other plaintiffs are seeking either $1,000 in relief for “each unauthorized disclosure of their tax return information, including each subsequent disclosure by third parties” or the “actual damages sustained by Plaintiffs and all related entities,” both of which the plaintiffs argue would total at least $10 billion.
A spokesman for President Trump’s legal team said in a statement shared by CBS News “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 IRS and Treasury Department reportedly did not respond immediately to requests for comment from the national press.
Click Here to Read President Trump’s Full Complaint
Earlier this week, the Treasury Department cut ties with Booz Allen Hamilton over their connection to the leaked tax returns.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time of the announcement that the firm “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.”
Brian P. Hale, a Booz Allen spokesperson, also commented on the move.
“Booz Allen fully supported the U.S. government in its investigation, and the government expressed gratitude for our assistance, which led to Littlejohn’s prosecution,” said Hale. “We look forward to continuing discussions with Treasury on this matter.”
According to the Associated Press, the firm has maintained contracts with other government agencies, including the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
He’s got a pretty good track record suing folks / They should be worried