President Donald Trump has now reportedly filed a sweeping lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department, seeking $10 billion in damages over what he says was a politically motivated leak of his confidential tax information.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Miami, names Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization as plaintiffs. The suit stems from the unauthorized disclosure of their tax returns in 2019 and 2020 by a former IRS employee, a breach Trump and his family argue represents a grave abuse of power and a failure by the federal government to protect private information.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who run the Trump Organization, joined the suit alongside their father. A spokesperson for the Trump team said the IRS “wrongly allowed a rogue, politically-motivated employee to leak private and confidential information” about the president, his family, and their business. According to the statement, that information was provided to outlets such as The New York Times and ProPublica, as well as other left-wing media organizations, before being disseminated to millions of people.
The lawsuit argues that the government bears responsibility for the leak and the resulting damage, asserting that federal agencies failed in their duty to safeguard sensitive taxpayer data. The plaintiffs are seeking $10 billion, reflecting what they say is the severity of the breach and the harm caused by the public release of their confidential financial records.
The source of the leak was later identified as Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor who worked for Booz Allen. Littlejohn pleaded guilty to unauthorized disclosures of tax returns after investigators determined he had improperly accessed and shared tax information. In 2024, he was sentenced to the maximum penalty of five years in prison for his actions.
Trump and his family have long argued that the leak was not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of politically driven attacks against them. The lawsuit underscores that view, portraying the disclosures as a deliberate act carried out by an individual with access to highly sensitive information inside the federal bureaucracy.
This legal action follows other efforts by Trump to seek accountability and compensation over past investigations and actions by federal agencies. In October, The New York Times reported that Trump is seeking $230 million from the Department of Justice related to the FBI’s investigation into potential ties between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, as well as the bureau’s execution of a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022.
In that case, Trump did not directly sue the Justice Department. Instead, he filed two complaints through an administrative claims process. Under that process, officials within the president’s own administration are responsible for determining whether the government will pay the damages Trump is requesting.
The new lawsuit against the IRS and Treasury represents a more direct legal challenge, taking the matter to federal court and demanding substantial financial damages. It places renewed focus on how taxpayer information is handled within the federal government and raises questions about accountability when confidential data is leaked.
For Trump and his family, the case is framed as a fight not only over personal privacy but over the integrity of federal institutions. By seeking $10 billion, the plaintiffs are signaling that they view the tax return leak as a serious violation with lasting consequences, one they believe warrants a significant legal and financial reckoning.
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