"The suit alleges that the agencies failed to prevent the unauthorized leak of their confidential tax returns by Charles Littlejohn between 2018 and 2020. Littlejohn, who pleaded guilty in 2023 and was sentenced to five years in prison, disclosed the information to outlets like The New York Times and ProPublica, revealing details such as Trump's minimal tax payments in several years."
"First, the lawsuit could be dismissed before it gets to trial. The statute of limitations allows taxpayers to sue for unauthorized disclosures but requires claims to be filed within two years after the date of discovery. The Trump complaint argues that the clock began for President Trump in January 29, 2024 (exactly two years before the lawsuit was filed), when the IRS formally notified him of the breach via letter."
On January 29, 2026, Donald Trump, Donald Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against the IRS and the Treasury seeking at least $10 billion for reputational harm, financial losses, and public embarrassment. The complaint alleges agency failures to prevent unauthorized disclosure of confidential tax returns by Charles Littlejohn between 2018 and 2020; Littlejohn pleaded guilty in 2023 and received a five-year sentence after providing returns to The New York Times and ProPublica. The suit faces an early statute-of-limitations challenge because claims for unauthorized disclosures must be filed within two years of discovery; the complaint asserts discovery occurred on January 29, 2024, when the IRS notified Trump, but the leaks date back to September 2020, creating a plausible argument that discovery occurred earlier. If the statute-of-limitations objection is resolved in favor of the plaintiffs, the case will still require proof of concrete, quantifiable damages to justify the $10 billion demand, which the complaint alleges as tarnished business reputations and negative public standing but will be difficult to demonstrate.
Read at Above the Law
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