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A federal judge Monday said a controversial lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump against the IRS sought to “manipulate the judicial process” and that he acted in bad faith in bringing it.
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US District Judge Kathleen Williams is ordering sanctions for the attorneys involved in the lawsuit, which led to an attempt to create the now-defunct $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for allies of the president. It was also used to justify a Trump administration order giving Trump and his businesses amnesty for any past tax issues.
Williams’ 56-page opinion blasted the behavior of both the Justice Department — arguing that the administration’s response to the case disregarded DOJ policies and potentially the law — and of the private attorneys who brought the lawsuit on Trump’s behalf.
“The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law,” the judge wrote.
She ordered that her opinion be submitted to attorney disciplinary boards in in New York and Washington, DC, that are currently reviewing pre-existing professional ethics complaints against acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.
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“In abdicating its responsibility to zealously defend the interests of the United States, the Government entered into a ‘settlement’ that deviated from its litigation posture in similar actions, disregarded DOJ policies, and accomplished objectives beyond those authorized, as well as those specifically prohibited, by law,” Williams wrote.
The judge also referred one of the private attorneys who represented Trump in the case to the Florida Bar for potential disciplinary proceedings and blocked another lawyer who represented Trump from entering court appearances in the Southern District of Florida for the next year.
Her order indicates that the retired judges who argued she should scrutinize the deal could be entitled to having their legal fees covered.
CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
A spokesman for Trump’s private legal team said: “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.”
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This story is breaking and will be updated.