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Trump’s IRS case should be reopened so court can probe possible ‘fraud,’ ex-judges argue
President Donald Trump’s recently dismissed $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service should be reopened so the judge who oversaw it can investigate “whether a fraud occurred,” 35 former federal judges argued Wednesday.Trump, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization on May 18 abruptly dropped their case against the IRS and the Treasury Department, which was based on leaks of their tax information by an ex-IRS employee in 2019 and 2020.
Federal Judge Kathleen Williams of Miami District Court accordingly ordered the case dismissed with prejudice, while noting that the move cancels an upcoming deadline related to her efforts to scrutinize the matter.
She also noted in her ruling that the plaintiffs made no reference to a settlement and that the defendants did not submit any settlement documents.
The same day, the Department of Justice announced that as part of a settlement agreement in the case, the U.S. attorney general will establish a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
One day later, the DOJ revealed an addendum to the settlement that effectively shielded the plaintiffs and certain affiliates from any IRS enforcement regarding their past tax returns.
“The Court was deceived,” the ex-judges wrote in a court filing Wednesday afternoon.
“Despite Plaintiffs not having mentioned any settlement in their Notice, the [DOJ] publicly announced a ‘settlement’ of this action shortly after Plaintiffs filed their dismissal,” they wrote.
That settlement “raises profound questions about the parties’ candor toward the Court and manipulation of the judicial system, which threatens to undermine confidence in the administration of justice,” they argued.
Trump's IRS case should be reopened so court can probe possible 'fraud,' ex-judges argue
Reopening the Trump-IRS case "will allow the Court to commence an inquiry into whether the Court was deceived," the ex-judges wrote.
www.cnbc.com
Movants are 35 former federal judges. A full list of Movants is listed in the attached Appendix. Movants are filing this motion because they have dedicated their professional lives to the administration of justice. The purported “settlement” that the parties never placed before this Court raises profound questions about the parties’ candor toward the Court and manipulation of the judicial system, which threatens to undermine confidence in the administration of justice. As former judges, Movants have an interest in bringing to the Court’s attention these concerns and the availability of relief under Rule 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which allows the Court to set aside the judgment and reopen the case.
Movants file directly under Rule 60 and in the alternative request leave to file as amici curiae. With respect to the former, the Eleventh Circuit has allowed that in “extraordinary circumstances,” a non-party may raise a challenge of fraud on the court through Rule 60 even when the non-party’s interests are not directly affected by the judgment. See Kem Mfg. Corp. v. Wilder, 817 F.2d 1517, 1521 (11th Cir. 1987). As explained below, the circumstances presented here are plainly extraordinary.
Perhaps this was the move from the beginning. File a suit as a publicity stunt knowing all along the option for trump to order the government to settle the matter in his favor was always in his back pocket. Especially when the acting AG who gave the order to establish the fund is under trump's complete control.
Apparently, these 35 judges are sufficiently disgusted by the corruption to the point where they decided to speak out. They represent the nation's collective, institutional memory, shinning a light on trump's unethical depravity and explains why he has tried so hard to dismantle oversight of his actions.
