Trump seeks immediate halt to judge’s penalties in IRS case

President Donald Trump has asked a federal appeals court to pause a judge’s order imposing sanctions on him and his lawyers for how they handled his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service while he appeals that ruling.

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Trump is challenging a Miami judge’s findings that he brought the IRS case in “bad faith” and reached a deal with the Justice Department to end the litigation that had no “basis in law.” She barred Trump and federal agencies from referring to the terms — including immunity from tax audits for past filings — in any official proceedings and referred his personal attorneys for potential disciplinary action.

In the request for an immediate pause filed Wednesday morning, Trump argued that allowing U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ order to remain in effect for now “would wrongly leave an unconstitutional speech restraint and career-altering professional sanctions in force while this court considers an appeal that is overwhelmingly likely to succeed.”

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will next decide whether to grant his request to halt Williams from enforcing her order until the court rules on the merits of the dispute.

Trump had sued the IRS earlier in the year, seeking to hold the agency liable for a leak of his tax information several years ago. In May, the Justice Department announced it had reached a settlement with Trump to end the case that included the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion fund for victims of alleged government “weaponization.”

Separate from the formal settlement, Attorney General Todd Blanche also signed an order granting Trump, his oldest sons Donald Jr. and Eric, and the Trump Organization immunity from audits or other investigations or claims by the IRS or the Treasury Department related to their past tax-related filings. 

Blanche quickly walked back the billion-dollar fund plan in response to opposition from several senior Republicans in Congress, although Trump has continued to express support for the idea.

The audit immunity order remains in effect. Blanche at one point shared a memo making clear that it wouldn’t apply beyond the parties in the case after facing skepticism from top Senate Republicans poised to complicate his recent confirmation to the Justice Department’s top job.

Last month, Williams found that the suit was not legitimate because Trump had authority over both defendants as president, violating a constitutional requirement that parties in federal litigation be adverse to each other. In addition to barring Trump from referring to the terms of the deal with the Justice Department, she ordered Trump to pay his opponents’ legal fees and referred his attorneys for potential discipline from bar associations.

The case is Trump v. Thirty-Five Former Federal Judges, 26-12692, US Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit.