Trump’s past tax returns get protection from IRS enforcement under ‘lawfare’ fund settlement

Federal tax returns filed by President Donald Trump, his two eldest sons, and the Trump Organization before this week are protected from potential Internal Revenue Service enforcement actions under a controversial $1.8 billion settlement with the Justice Department, a new document posted Tuesday shows.

The Justice Department, as part of the settlement, barred the federal government from prosecuting or pursuing “any and all claims” that could have been made by the IRS, which included “tax returns filed before” the effective date of the settlement, according to the document, signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Blanche is Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer.

The document, first reported by Politico, is an addendum to the conditions of the settlement first revealed Monday by the Justice Department.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the addendum.

The settlement resolved a $10 billion lawsuit filed in Miami federal court by Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and their company against the IRS over the leak of Trump-related tax filings by an IRS employee.

The Trumps on Monday dropped that suit in exchange for the Justice Department agreeing to finance a so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund with $1.8 billion. The fund is set up to be used to compensate purported victims of law enforcement actions by the department under the Biden administration. The Trump administration has referred to such action as “lawfare.”

Democratic members of Congress have called the settlement a “slush fund” for allies of Trump, including defendants convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and disrupted the confirmation of the electoral victory of former President Joe Biden.

Blanche, during testimony to a Senate appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday morning, would not rule out allowing people convicted of assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6 riot to get compensation from the fund.

Trump agreed as part of the settlement on Monday to withdraw two administrative claims, “including for damages resulting from the unlawful raid of Mar-a-Lago and the Russia-collusion hoax,” the Justice Department said in a statement.