Donald Trump has explained why he believes it is justified for taxpayers to cover the costs of his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.
The former president has defended his decision to sue the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department for $10 billion. This legal action stems from the alleged leak of his tax information back in 2020.
According to the BBC, the Trump family is accusing these entities of not preventing the disclosure of ‘confidential, personal financial information’ by a contractor named Charles ‘Chaz’ Littlejohn. Littlejohn is serving a five-year prison sentence after admitting to leaking this information to media outlets like the New York Times and ProPublica.
The lawsuit claims that these leaks have ‘unfairly tarnished’ the business and public reputation of Trump along with his sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump. They also allege financial harm as a consequence.
During a press conference aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked if it was ‘fair’ for American taxpayers to shoulder the cost of his lawsuit, considering he is essentially suing his own government. Trump responded by stating that he plans to donate ‘100%’ of any money he receives from the lawsuit to charity.
“Well, anything I win I’m going to give 100% to charity,” he said.
The journalist pressed further, asking: “But that still takes it from the American people…”
Trump remained firm, saying: “No, because they give money to charity. They (the government) give away 40 billion dollars to charity a year.”
He continued: “When they go on to release your tax returns, it’s totally illegal. People go to jail for that, and they’ve already found the person who did it, as you know, they got in big trouble.”
Trump reiterated that any funds he would receive would be donated to ‘good and respected charities’, a sentiment he shared with NBC’s Nightly News anchor, Tom Llamas.
“And any money that I win, I’ll give it to charity, 100% to charities, charities that will be approved by government or whatever,” he stated.
Legal experts have acknowledged that Trump might have a valid claim against the IRS regarding his tax records.
The unauthorized release of his tax information breached IRS Code 6103, one of the strictest confidentiality laws in US federal law. This code is designed to assist individuals whose tax information has been leaked, with damages starting at a minimum of $1,000 per disclosure.
Despite recognizing Trump’s grievance with the IRS over the leak, legal experts have raised doubts about the substantial amount of damages he seeks and questioned his decision to pursue this case.
“What’s the true harm that he [Trump] is still experiencing that requires this amount of taxpayer money at this juncture?” Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, told NBC News.
In a statement to NBC News, Trump’s private attorneys declared: “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, which was then illegally released to millions of people.
“President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”
UNILAD has reached out to the IRS and the Treasury Department for comment.