President Donald Trump has denied assertions that his litigation against the Internal Revenue Service was part of a plan to establish a $1.8 billion fund for alleged victims of political "weaponization," according to a Bloomberg report.
In court papers filed on Friday, lawyers for Trump rejected the notion that the $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS amounted to a fraud on the court. The attorneys also defended the Justice Department's authority to reach the settlement that led to the fund proposal, which has since been abandoned.
The filing was submitted in response to a petition from a group of 35 former federal judges who asked the court to investigate whether Trump and Justice Department officials used the lawsuit as a vehicle to create the fund while presenting the arrangement as an ordinary legal settlement.
Trump's legal team said the former judges' allegations rest on conjecture and do not supply evidence demonstrating collusion between the parties. The filing characterizes the charges as speculative and argues they fall short of showing that the litigation or settlement were improper.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami is weighing the former judges' request and deciding whether to reopen the case to examine those claims more closely. If the judge orders the case reopened, the court could compel testimony from people involved in the matter, including Trump's attorneys, aides, and Justice Department lawyers.
The group of former judges contended that Trump effectively controlled both sides of the dispute because the lawsuit targeted a federal agency operating within his administration. They alleged that there was no bona fide legal controversy for the court to resolve, implying the proceeding may have been used to achieve other ends.
Lawyers representing the former judges are due to file their response to Trump's submission by June 19.
The underlying dispute traces back to a settlement tied to Trump's lawsuit over the unauthorized disclosure in 2019 of his tax returns by an IRS contractor. That contractor later entered a guilty plea and served a prison sentence.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress earlier this month that the government would not proceed with the proposed fund after lawmakers raised concerns. Critics had warned the money might be directed to Trump allies and supporters.
Despite the abandonment of the fund, one provision of the settlement remains intact, according to the report; that element provides Trump with protection from future investigations related to his past tax filings.
The legal confrontation continues on several fronts. Separate lawsuits are challenging portions of the settlement, and a federal judge in Virginia recently barred officials from taking actions connected to the fund while litigation is ongoing.
Note: This article reports on claims and court filings as presented in the referenced filing and the former judges' petition. It reflects positions and motions currently under judicial consideration and does not introduce new facts beyond those set out in the filings and related reports.