U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a major lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, seeking $10 billion in damages over the alleged failure of the agencies to protect his confidential tax records from being leaked to the media.
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Miami and lists Trump’s two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, alongside the Trump Organization, as co-plaintiffs. According to the filing, the unauthorized disclosure of Trump’s tax returns between 2019 and 2020 caused serious reputational, political, and financial harm.
Trump and his legal team argue that the IRS and Treasury had a clear legal duty to safeguard confidential taxpayer information but failed to uphold that responsibility. The complaint points to a former IRS contractor, Charles “Chaz” Littlejohn, who unlawfully accessed and leaked tax records to media organizations including The New York Times and ProPublica. Littlejohn was convicted and sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to the unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information.
The lawsuit claims the agencies’ negligence allowed the breach to occur and that the fallout from the leaks negatively affected Trump’s business interests and political standing, particularly during the period leading up to the 2020 presidential election. It further alleges that basic data-protection safeguards were either absent or inadequately enforced, amounting to gross negligence or willful misconduct.
The case follows a series of actions taken by the Treasury Department in response to the breach, including the termination of more than $21 million in contracts with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which employed Littlejohn at the time. Treasury officials cited failures in protecting sensitive taxpayer data as the basis for ending the contracts.
The lawsuit adds to Trump’s long-running disputes with U.S. federal institutions and comes at a time when the IRS is preparing for the 2026 tax filing season amid ongoing reforms and public scrutiny over data security and tax enforcement. Legal analysts say the case could have far-reaching implications for how taxpayer confidentiality is enforced and how federal agencies are held accountable for data breaches.
As the legal process unfolds, the case is expected to draw national attention and reignite debate over privacy protections, government oversight, and the handling of sensitive financial information at the highest levels of U.S. governance.
