MaddowBlog-Trump files lawsuit against the IRS, seeking $10 billion taxpayer-financed payout

[LetMyPeopleVote]

First the president demanded $230 million from the Justice Department. Now he’s seeking far more from the Internal Revenue Service.

First, Trump demanded that the Justice Department put 0 million in his pocket. Now he also wants billion from the IRS.

Among the questions: Will he try to approve a taxpayer-financed payoff to himself?
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-01-30T14:04:07.191Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-irs-lawsuit-10-billion-leak-tax-return

The AP’s report added that the move, which scrapped contracts worth $21 million, was “in line with Trump administration efforts to exact retribution on perceived enemies of the president and his allies.”

Three days later, Trump took an additional step down the same retributive path. The Republican isn’t just punishing Booz Allen for the actions of one its former employees, he’s also suing the IRS itself for the same reason. The New York Times reported:

President Trump sued the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday for the unauthorized leak of his tax returns during his first term, demanding that the government agency pay him at least $10 billion.

Mr. Trump, as well as his two eldest sons and his family business, charged in the lawsuit that the I.R.S. and the Treasury Department had failed to prevent a former I.R.S. contractor, Charles Littlejohn, from gaining access to Mr. Trump’s tax documents, which were shared with The New York Times.

Unlike some of the president’s other weird lawsuits, this one at least has some basis in reality. A former IRS contractor really did break the law by leaking tax information that Trump wanted to keep secret from the public. It’s why Littlejohn is in prison.

But that doesn’t mean the new civil suit is sensible. On the contrary, the circumstances are absurd: Trump wants $10 billion from the federal government that he currently leads.

What’s more, he’s filing the case in his personal capacity, which sets the stage for a legal fight in which Trump’s private attorneys will go up against Trump administration attorneys, some of whom also used to work for Trump as his personal attorneys.....

In October, Trump demanded that the Justice Department he leads pay him roughly $230 million in compensation for the federal criminal investigations he faced after losing his 2020 re-election bid. He noted that it would ultimately be up to him to approve a payout to himself. “I’m the one who has to settle it,” the president told a group of supporters in North Carolina shortly before Christmas. “In other words, I am suing, and I’m the one that’s supposed to settle it.”

During the same comments, Trump debated with himself about whether he’d keep the money or donate it to charity, before concluding that it’s “a strange position to be in” because he felt the need to “negotiate with” himself.

Now, a month later, the president apparently has decided that $230 million from the Justice Department won’t be enough, and he also wants $10 billion from the IRS. Whether Trump intends to oversee another settlement with himself is not yet clear. Watch this space.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. MaddowBlog-On his IRS suit, Trump claims 'nobody would care' about a multibillion-dollar payout

Vague presidential assurances don’t turn a baseless lawsuit into a good one.

To hear Trump tell it, “nobody would care” if, as a result of his baseless lawsuit against the IRS, he agreed to award himself billions of taxpayer dollars, so long as he gave the money to charity.

Given his own record, it’s not nearly that simple.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-02T15:51:59.212Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/on-his-irs-suit-trump-claims-nobody-would-care-about-a-multibillion-dollar-payout

More than five years later, Trump has decided that the criminal penalty wasn’t enough: The disclosure of the truth means he’s also entitled to a $10 billion payout from the federal tax agency, which the incumbent president sued in federal court on Thursday, claiming that the IRS should have done more to limit Littlejohn’s access.

During a brief Q-and-A with reporters on Air Force One on Saturday night, Trump publicly commented on the civil litigation for the first time.

Trump on his multiple suits against the federal government: "I'm supposed to work out a settlement with myself ... We could make it a substantial amount, nobody would care, because it's gonna go to numerous, very good charities."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-02-01T02:20:30.184Z

....As Trump apparently sees it, Americans won’t be outraged if he agrees to pay himself billions of taxpayer dollars, so long as he doesn’t keep billions of taxpayer dollars.

If only it were that simple. For one thing, there are no guarantees that he’d direct all of the money to charitable causes. For another, Trump’s track record of following through on vows to give to charity isn’t exactly sterling, which makes it difficult to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Just as notable is the simple fact that the president filed an absurd $10 billion lawsuit, seeking a payoff he neither needs nor deserves. Vague assurances about where some or all of that money might go at some future date don’t turn a baseless case into a good one.

Writing for MS NOW, political columnist Paul Waldman explained that the president’s litigation is “so brazen, so shameless, so stunning … that it will stand out in history even in a presidential term drowning in self-dealing.” Waldman added, “This latest act deploys Trump’s favorite financial weapon — the bogus lawsuit — but in a way no one even contemplated before.”

On ABC News’ “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about the obvious conflict of interest, as Trump seeks money from his own administration. Blanche, a former Trump defense attorney, replied, “We’re looking at how to handle that.”

That wasn’t altogether reassuring.