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LetMyPeopleVote

(184,867 posts)
17. MaddowBlog-Judge slams Trump-IRS 'settlement,' refers attorney for possible disciplinary actions
Mon Jul 13, 2026, 05:45 PM
12 hrs ago

The president probably thought his $10 billion case against the IRS was over. That was before a federal court found his lawyers acted in “bad faith.”

A federal judge set out to investigate “grievous allegations” in the Trump-IRS case.

She apparently did not like what she discovered, concluding that Trump and his lawyers acted “in bad faith” and filed a civil suit “for an improper purpose.”
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-07-13T17:37:12.625Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-irs-settlement-sanctions-lawyers-leaked-tax-returns

By now, Donald Trump has probably grown accustomed to legal setbacks in court, though his case against the IRS has started to backfire in ways the president didn’t see coming. The Associated Press reported:

A federal judge said Monday that President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over his leaked tax returns was filed for an “improper purpose” as she referred attorneys for disciplinary actions.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams amounts to a stinging rebuke of the Republican president’s lawsuit, characterizing it as an exercise in self-dealing in which he sued an entity that is effectively under his control
.


.....More than a month later, she apparently did not like what she discovered, concluding that Trump and his lawyers acted “in bad faith” and filed a civil suit “for an improper purpose.”

The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law,” Williams wrote.

The judge also prohibited the parties from even referring to it as a “settlement.”

Just as notably, as CNBC reported, Williams “referred Trump’s lawyer in the lawsuit, Alejandro Brito, to the Florida bar for consideration on whether Brito should be disciplined in light of the findings in the new order.” The judge also “ordered that a copy of her ruling be mailed to the State Bar of New York, of which Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is a member, as well as to the District of Columbia Bar, of which Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward is a member.”

I am looking forward to Blanche's confirmation hearing. One of the questions may be to find out if a disbarred attorney can be Attorney General

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That normally would sting, but these people have no shame. surfered 17 hrs ago #1
It's not the verbal sting, it's the sanctions that are gonna hurt. Ocelot II 17 hrs ago #3
MaddowBlog-Judge questions whether Trump can sue his own administration for $10 billion LetMyPeopleVote 16 hrs ago #8
Hope it hurts big time, sanctions are past due for these greedy lawless goons vapor2 7 hrs ago #21
just in time for blanch's hearing . rampartd 17 hrs ago #2
They should all be disbarred malaise 17 hrs ago #4
No time to read the whole thing... Who was sanctioned and what was the recommendation? hlthe2b 17 hrs ago #5
Just listen here malaise 17 hrs ago #7
Thanks! hlthe2b 16 hrs ago #9
Here's a condensed version of the court's order relating to sanctions. Ocelot II 15 hrs ago #10
Thank you. Considerable "shit" raining down. Good hlthe2b 14 hrs ago #14
This opinion was a fun read LetMyPeopleVote 12 hrs ago #18
I have the first edition of Tribe's "American Constitutional Law." Will have to see what he said Ocelot II 12 hrs ago #19
The Judge referred Blanche, another DOJ asshole attorney and a private attorney to the various bar associations LetMyPeopleVote 17 hrs ago #6
Wow, she burned Todd Blanche too! It's a trifecta FakeNoose 14 hrs ago #12
Just in time for his confirmation hearing! Ocelot II 14 hrs ago #15
They colluded to commit a fraud against the government... kentuck 15 hrs ago #11
So many comments melm00se 14 hrs ago #13
I am so impressed NJCher 14 hrs ago #16
MaddowBlog-Judge slams Trump-IRS 'settlement,' refers attorney for possible disciplinary actions LetMyPeopleVote 12 hrs ago #17
Great ruling! Big deal, yes! yellow dahlia 7 hrs ago #20
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