Trump sues I.R.S. and Treasury over leaked tax returns, seeks at least $10 billion

On Jan. 30, 2026, President Trump filed a complaint in federal court in Miami against the I.R.S. and the Treasury Department, demanding at least $10 billion for the unauthorized disclosure of his tax returns from his first term. The suit, brought by Mr. Trump along with two of his sons and his family business, accuses the agencies of failing to prevent a leak by Charles Littlejohn, a former I.R.S.

contractor who admitted giving Mr. Trump’s tax returns to The New York Times and was sentenced to five years in prison for that leak and for providing tax information about other wealthy Americans to ProPublica. Legal experts said the filing created an unprecedented situation of federal agencies being sued by the head of the executive branch.

"It’s an enormous conflict of interest," said Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. "It’s not a crazy lawsuit," said Michael Eric Herz, a professor at Cardozo Law School, "It should be taken seriously and if it was anyone other than the president bringing the lawsuit you would say, ‘I can understand this.’" Lawyers and scholars identified several legal hurdles for Mr.

Trump. One question is whether the I.R.S. can be held liable for the actions of a contractor; in a previous case over leaks by Mr. Littlejohn, the billionaire Ken Griffin sued the I.R.S. and the agency argued it was not responsible, later settling and apologizing to Mr. Griffin.

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