The basis of the lawsuit are the actions of the then authorities towards Trump as a private person, and not as a sitting president. It was alleged that The federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department failed to adequately protect the confidential tax records of Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization..
What is Donald Trump's claim in the lawsuit?
Who are the co-plaintiffs in the case?
What happened to Charles Littlejohn?
What was the reason for terminating contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton?
The co-plaintiffs are the president's sons: Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. They claim that the then authorities caused financial and image damage as well as “public humiliation” of the plaintiffs.
Donald Trump's tax returns were released to the media. There is a lawsuit
The case specifically involves Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS collaborator. While working for the consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton, which carries out orders for the US government, he illegally obtained and released Trump's tax returns to the media and thousands of other wealthy Americans, including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. In 2024, Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison.
Trump's legal team argues that the IRS is liable for the actions of a subcontractor who had “access comparable to a full-time employee” and exploited “long-standing security vulnerabilities about which the agency had been warned.”
“The IRS unlawfully allowed a politically motivated employee to disclose private and confidential information regarding President Trump, his family and the Trump Organization,” the lawyers wrote in a statement cited by CNN.
The storm surrounding the US president's testimony
Earlier this week, the Treasury Department terminated contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton worth $21 million. The reason was that the company “failed to implement appropriate safeguards to protect confidential taxpayer information,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The disclosure of Trump's tax returns has been the subject of years of political and legal disputes, especially after the New York Times' publications in 2020. According to NBC News, these articles attacked the president, accusing him of paying only $750. federal income tax in 2016-2017. Trump has consistently referred to these reports as “false” and “illegally obtained.”
