The Department of Justice expanded this Tuesday (19) the agreement reached this week with President Donald Trump to end his extraordinary lawsuit against the IRS, the US Internal Revenue Service, now including a clause that prevents the agency from moving forward with tax collections against the president, his family or his businesses.
In a one-page document signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and quietly posted on the department’s website, officials pledged not to pursue any pending cases — including those involving Trump’s tax returns.
The new provision was released just a day after Trump agreed to drop the lawsuit in exchange for creating a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people he says have been harmed by federal investigations or prosecutions. The fund came under repeated criticism from Democrats when Blanche testified Tuesday morning at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
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Last week, the New York Times reported that Trump’s negotiations with the Justice Department and the IRS included a move for the IRS to end any audits of the president, his family members or his businesses. But that clause did not appear in the nine-page settlement agreement released Monday by the department, which detailed the terms for dismissal of the lawsuit.
In January, Trump, two of his children and the family conglomerate filed at least a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS for leaking their tax returns during the president’s first term. The Trumps argued that the IRS should have done more to prevent a former contractor from disclosing tax information to the IRS. Times and to ProPublica.
Neither the Justice Department nor the IRS immediately responded to requests for comment. Treasury’s top lawyer, Brian Morrissey, resigned on Monday after the Justice Department announced the deal with Trump.
Justice Department officials have defended the creation of the “anti-framing” fund by pointing out, among other factors, that Trump and his family members will not be beneficiaries of the resources.
But audit protection could be quite lucrative for Trump. In 2024, the Times reported that a defeat in an IRS audit could cost the former president more than $100 million.
It is unclear whether that oversight has been completed or whether Trump, his family members or associated companies are under other audits. IRS procedures mandate a mandatory audit of the president’s income tax returns every year.
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Federal law prohibits the president, vice president and other members of the executive branch from ordering the IRS to start or stop specific audits. But this broad prohibition appears to include an exception for the attorney general.
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