President Donald Trump and his family are taking the fight directly to Washington’s bureaucracy, filing a massive $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department over what they say was a politically motivated leak of confidential tax records.
The suit, filed in federal court in Miami, names the IRS and Treasury as defendants and accuses the agencies of failing to safeguard private financial information that was later splashed across major left-leaning media outlets. Joining the president as plaintiffs are Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization — a unified front arguing that federal institutions weaponized sensitive data against a political target.
At the center of the case is former IRS contractor Charles “Chaz” Littlejohn, who admitted to stealing and leaking tax information in 2019 and 2020. Littlejohn is now serving a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2023 to unlawfully disclosing tax return information. According to the lawsuit, the breach went far beyond a rogue act — it exposed systemic failures inside agencies entrusted with some of the most private information Americans possess.
A spokesperson for the Trump legal team didn’t mince words.
“The IRS wrongly allowed a rogue, politically motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization to the New York Times, ProPublica and other left-wing news outlets,” the statement said. “President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”
Court filings argue the damage was not merely personal but reputational and financial. The lawsuit claims the unauthorized disclosures painted the Trump family in a false light, fueled partisan narratives, and harmed business interests — all while government officials failed in their legal duty to protect taxpayer confidentiality.
The timing of the suit is notable. It came just days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the department had cut ties with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton due to its connection to Littlejohn. The move suggests internal recognition that the breach was not a minor incident but a major failure of oversight.
Littlejohn himself admitted in a deposition that he released extensive Trump business records to media outlets. The suit further alleges that subsequent reporting exaggerated or mischaracterized the documents, implying wrongdoing that the plaintiffs argue never occurred. The Trumps contend that speculative commentary from outside academics was presented as fact, amplifying political attacks under the guise of journalism.
The case will be overseen by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. Legal observers note that the proceedings could become a major test of how far government agencies can be held liable when internal safeguards collapse — and whether political bias played a role in the handling of confidential information.
For many Americans, the lawsuit raises a larger question: if the IRS cannot protect the tax records of a former president, what protections exist for ordinary citizens?
The Trump family’s legal action frames the issue as one of accountability, privacy, and the rule of law. Regardless of politics, the suit argues, taxpayer information is sacred. Once government agencies allow that trust to be broken, confidence in the entire system erodes.
The case now moves forward in federal court, where the Trumps are seeking not only damages, but a public reckoning over what they describe as one of the most egregious breaches of taxpayer privacy in modern history.
