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The three-judge panel in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the attorneys, Alejandro Brito and Daniel Epstein, failed to show they were likely to succeed in arguing that Miami U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams lacked sufficient basis when she found the lawyers acted in bad faith in the civil suit.
The panel also said the appeal was premature. The panel noted that Williams has not made a final decision on whether to grant a request by a group of 35 former federal judges that she reopen the case — which was controversially settled out of court in May — and also has not decided a question about attorneys’ fees.
Williams in July referred Brito to the Florida Bar to determine if he should be disciplined in light of her scathing findings after the case was settled.
Williams also ordered that all future applications by Epstein to be admitted pro hac vice in the Southern District of Florida be denied for one year. Lawyers not admitted to practice in a certain federal judicial district can appear in a case there if they are admitted through a “pro hac vice” application.
The appeals panel’s ruling denying a delay in the sanctions was unanimous.
One of the judges on the panel, Kevin Newsom, was appointed by Trump. The other two judges, Robin Rosenbaum and Adalberto Jordan, were appointed by President Barack Obama.
Trump has sued the IRS over the leak of his tax records by an agency contractor. The settlement briefly led the Justice Department to create a $1.8 billion “lawfare” fund that was quickly abandoned after outrage at the idea it could be used to compensate defendants in Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot cases who had assaulted police officers and other defendants.
The settlement also protected Trump, his family members, the Trump Organization and related trusts and affiliates from potential IRS enforcement actions related to federal tax returns filed.
Williams found that the plaintiffs, which included Trump’s eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, had “acted in bad faith and for the improper purpose” by filing a lawsuit “solely to provide cover for a collusive settlement.”
In addition to sanctioning Brito and Epstein, Williams also ordered a copy of her order to be sent to the New York State Bar Association, of which acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is a member. Blanche, who is Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, announced the creation of the DOJ’s now-aborted compensation fund after the suit was settled.
A spokesman for Trump’s legal team, in a statement about Tuesday’s ruling by the appeals panel, 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,” the spokesman said.
Two lawyers who represent the coalition of former federal judges who have asked Williams to reopen the case praised the appeals court’s decision.
“As we said from the beginning, Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS was a sham, and the slush fund and global release deals that flowed from it were too,” said the lawyers, Norm Eisen and Matthew Platkin, in a statement.
“The Eleventh Circuit saw this collusive scheme for exactly what it is and refused to stay the consequences,” the attorney said. ” We are glad to have played a crucial role in the judiciary’s independent examination of the collusive conduct in this case, and we will continue to do so.”
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