Justice Dept. Officials Consider Settling Trump Suit Against I.R.S.

"The Justice Department is holding internal discussions about settling President Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service in the coming days, according to three people familiar with the deliberations, a move that could involve the government directly providing taxpayer funds or another public benefit to the president. Whether to settle the suit and on what terms remains up in the air."

"One of the settlement options the Justice Department and White House officials are reviewing is the possibility of the I.R.S. dropping any audits of Mr. Trump, his family members or businesses, according to two of the people. In January, Mr. Trump, along with two of his sons and the Trump family business, sued the Internal Revenue Service for at least $10 billion over the leak of their tax returns during the president's first term."

"Given that Mr. Trump oversees the I.R.S., the agency that he is suing, the judge in the case has taken a series of novel legal steps to probe whether there is a genuine controversy between the Justice Department and Mr. Trump. For a lawsuit to be valid, the two parties must actually be on opposite sides, otherwise the judge can throw out the case."

"The judge has ordered Mr. Trump's personal lawyers along with the Justice Department, which represents the I.R.S. in federal court to submit briefs by May 20 explaining whether they are in conflict with one another. White House and Justice Department officials have in recent days been exploring ways to potentially settle the suit before that deadline, according to the people."

The Justice Department is considering settling President Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service in the coming days. Settlement could involve the government providing taxpayer funds or another public benefit to the president. One option under review is having the IRS drop audits of Trump, his family members, or his businesses. Trump, along with two sons and the family business, sued the IRS for at least $10 billion after tax returns were leaked during his first term. The lawsuit claims the IRS should have prevented a former contractor from disclosing tax information. The judge has taken steps to determine whether a genuine controversy exists because Trump oversees the IRS. The judge ordered briefs by May 20 from Trump’s lawyers and the Justice Department on whether they are in conflict.

Read at www.nytimes.com