President Donald Trump and his sons sued the IRS and a former agent for $10 billion, alleging illegal leaks of his tax returns and significant harm from those disclosures.
President Donald Trump and his adult sons have filed a $10 billion lawsuit in federal court, seeking damages tied to the release of his tax returns. The complaint was lodged in the Southern District of Florida on Thursday and names the IRS along with an individual employee as defendants. The filing frames the episode as a deliberate breach of privacy that caused both reputational and financial injury. The plaintiffs say the leak was not an isolated mistake but a harmful and unlawful disclosure of private tax information.
According to the complaint, the disclosure traces back to around 2019 when IRS employee Charles Littlejohn allegedly leaked tax returns to outlets including the New York Times and ProPublica. The lawsuit calls those outlets part of the leftist media ecosystem that benefited from the illicit disclosures. Plaintiffs argue that the leak allowed hostile outlets to frame and amplify selective information to damage their businesses and personal standing. That context is central to the claim and frames the damages being sought.
The complaint uses pointed language to describe the fallout, and it spells out the harms claimed by the Trump family. “Defendants have caused Plaintiffs reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiff’s public standing,” the lawsuit said. Those words anchor the legal theory: reputational injury plus economic loss tied directly to the unauthorized disclosure. The plaintiffs want the court to hold the IRS and the individual agent accountable under federal law.
Court filings include exhibits and detailed allegations intended to trace responsibility and show the chain of custody for the leaked material. The filing package attaches relevant documents and describes the timeline the plaintiffs say led to the public dissemination of private tax records. The lawsuit seeks to establish that the agency failed to protect sensitive taxpayer information and that the individual acted outside the scope of authorized conduct while in possession of confidential returns. The plaintiffs are using those exhibits to buttress their request for both compensatory and punitive relief.
In follow-up materials, lawyers for the Trump family outline how the leaks translated into concrete economic effects for the businesses involved. They argue selective reporting based on cherry-picked returns skewed public perception and harmed business relationships and opportunities. The legal team is asking the court not only for a large damage award but also for a formal finding that the leaks were wrongful and that systemic safeguards at the IRS were violated. That approach reflects a broader push for accountability beyond just monetary relief.
From a political perspective, supporters of the plaintiffs frame this as a stark example of weaponized government leaking paired with bias from certain media outlets. The complaint ties the leak to what it calls an organized pattern of disclosure that targeted a political figure and his enterprises. That narrative will resonate with voters who view federal agencies as too politicized and the press as eager to pursue stories that fit a partisan script. Expect outside voices to lean into that argument as the case moves forward.
Procedurally, the lawsuit opens a path for discovery that could require testimony from agency officials and media contacts, and it will likely prompt motions over privilege and the scope of disclosure. The Southern District of Florida will have to sort through requests for documents, deposition schedules, and potentially disputed claims about how information was handled inside the IRS. Whatever happens, the litigation promises to be drawn out and to keep questions about internal agency controls and media conduct in the public eye for months to come.
