Trump Files $10B Lawsuit Against Treasury, IRS Over Leaked Tax Records

President Donald Trump, along with his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization, has filed a federal lawsuit against the US Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, seeking at least $10 billion in damages over the unauthorized disclosure of confidential tax records.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Miami, alleges that the IRS and Treasury failed to properly safeguard sensitive tax information, which was later leaked to the media. Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the family business argue the breach exposed taxpayers to massive financial liability and caused reputational and financial harm.

The case revives controversy that emerged just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, when The New York Times published reporting based on leaked IRS data detailing Trump’s tax history. Trump has repeatedly dismissed that reporting as false.

At the center of the breach is former IRS contractor Charles “Chaz” Littlejohn, who pleaded guilty to stealing and leaking tax records belonging to Trump and thousands of other wealthy Americans, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Ken Griffin. Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison in January 2024.

Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, said the IRS and Treasury had a legal duty to protect confidential taxpayer data and failed to implement adequate security, monitoring, and employee screening to prevent the leak.

The Treasury Department has acknowledged that approximately 406,000 taxpayers were affected by the breach between 2018 and 2020. Earlier this week, it canceled $21 million in contracts with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where Littlejohn previously worked, citing data protection failures. Booz Allen has said the misconduct occurred on government systems, not its own.

The lawsuit places Trump in a rare position as a sitting president suing agencies within the federal government he leads. The Justice Department may ultimately oversee the case and determine whether to pursue a settlement.