US judge voids Trump tax settlement with IRS

A US judge on Monday voided a settlement between Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service that had given the president and his allies broad protections from audits. The judge ruled that Trump's lawsuit over leaked tax returns had been filed for an improper purpose.

Trump, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization had sued the IRS for $10 billion over the disclosure of confidential records by a former agency contractor to news organizations. The case ended in May with a contentious agreement that gave Trump, his family and affiliated businesses broad protection from existing tax examinations and claims.

The agreement also created a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded program to compensate people who said they had been targeted by politically motivated government investigations. The measure, which was criticised as a "slush fund for criminals," was later abandoned.

District Judge Kathleen Williams said there had never been a genuine legal dispute between Trump and the IRS because, as president, he effectively controls the agency and the Treasury Department. Williams wrote that the case was brought to secure judicial legitimacy for a settlement that had no viable basis in law or fact.

Williams also accused the government of failing to defend the public interest. She said Justice Department officials had disregarded policies and pursued objectives that went beyond, and in some cases violated, their legal authority.

The judge referred one of Trump's private attorneys and senior Justice Department officials involved in approving the settlement to legal disciplinary authorities. She also barred another Trump lawyer from appearing in her South Florida court for one year.

Trump had no immediate reaction to the ruling. CNN quoted a spokesman for his private legal team as saying Trump would continue to "hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable."