Former President Donald Trump is making headlines by suing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department for $10 billion. He claims they failed to prevent a former IRS employee from leaking his tax returns, as well as those of his sons and his business, to the media.
Trump filed the lawsuit in Miami, emphasizing he is acting as a private citizen, not in his capacity as president. His sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization are also part of the suit.
In the complaint, Trump alleges that the leak caused them significant reputational and financial damage. He says the disclosure harmed their public image, presenting them in a false light.
The lawsuit comes after Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2024. He admitted to leaking Trump’s tax records to The New York Times, which reported that Trump paid just $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017. Trump faced backlash over this story, calling it “fake news” and claiming the information was illegally obtained.
Littlejohn didn’t stop with Trump’s records; he also accessed the tax documents of high-profile individuals like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. This pattern of behavior raised concerns about the security of sensitive taxpayer information.
According to a recent survey by the American Institute of CPAs, 62% of Americans feel the IRS should do more to protect taxpayer data. This incident underscores that need, highlighting the stakes involved when personal financial information becomes public.
This case is about more than just Trump; it taps into broader discussions about privacy and accountability in government. As scrutiny over data breaches increases, it reminds us that everyone deserves to keep their financial details private.
You can read more about the implications of this lawsuit in reports from NPR and the Wall Street Journal.
