President Donald Trump is moving to withdraw a $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over a leak of his tax returns.
As part of the deal with the IRS, the administration announced the creation of a billion-dollar fund to compensate allies who they say were mistreated under the Biden administration.
The disclosure was made in a filing in federal court in Florida, where the lawsuit was filed, The Associated Press reported.
He filed the suit earlier this year, arguing that a leak of his and the Trump Organization’s confidential tax records caused harm to his reputation and finances, public embarrassment, harm to his business and portraying them in a false light, the AP said.
Lawyers for Trump in April asked the judge to pause the case for 90 days while the two sides worked to reach a settlement.
Trump reportedly was creating a $1.776 billion compensation fund for those who he said were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration.
It was not clear who exactly will benefit from the fund, but it furthers the president’s longstanding claim that the Biden administration and the Justice Department weaponized the government against Trump and his allies.
In February, he said potential damages earned from the case could go toward something for charity.
“We could make it a substantial amount,” he said. “Nobody would care because it’s going to go to numerous very good charities.”
Trump has pointed to the criminal charges he faced between his two terms related to his actions after the 2020 presidential election and the classified documents he held at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office.
Several of Trump’s aides and allies have been prosecuted related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Trump filed the lawsuit personally and not on behalf of the federal government.
Biden administration officials like former Attorney General Merrick Garland have said they were not pursuing political revenge and pointed to the investigations into former President Joe Biden for keeping classified documents and his son, Hunter Biden, who was prosecuted over tax and gun charges.
The Justice Department announced Monday the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” of $1.776 billion.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the fund in a statement and said the department would be providing a “systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.”
Trump, named a plaintiff in the suit with his sons, will receive a formal apology from the IRS but no monetary payment of damages, the DOJ’s statement said.
“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” Blanche said in a statement. “As part of this settlement, we are setting up a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.”
The fund allows the government to issue formal apologies and monetary relief owed. The DOJ said there are “no partisan requirements to file a claim.”
The money will come from the “judgment fund,” which is a perpetual appropriation that allows the DOJ to settle and pay cases.
They pointed to the Obama-era “Keepseagle” case where the administration created a multimillion-dollar fund in 2011.
Blanche will appoint five members to oversee the fund.