The IRS knew Trump’s lawsuit could be easily thrown out in court. The Department of Justice didn’t listen.

The Internal Revenue Services’ own lawyers wanted to convince the Justice Department to dismiss Trump’s $10 billion case against them, outlining several massive issues with the lawsuit that could have served as defense against the suit, according to The New York Times. The DOJ instead chose to settle with the president, awarding him a nearly $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” a slush fund for his supporters and friends.

The 25-page IRS memorandum was given to top Treasury officials last month but it’s unclear if it ever made it to the DOJ. The memo stated that Trump’s lawsuit was filed two years too late. Federal statute requires that people suing the IRS for unfairly released tax information must do so within two years of the infraction. Trump claimed not to have known about the tax information leak until January 2024, but the memo notes that Alina Habba—one of Trump’s personal lawyers—was present at the trial of IRS leaker Charles Littlejohn in October 2023. Trump did not file a complaint until January 2026, over two years later.

The IRS also raised that it may not even be accountable for Littlejohn’s actions, as he was a contractor with Booz Allen with IRS access, not an IRS employee. Regardless of whether these arguments would have worked, it’s clear that the DOJ—controlled by another one of Trump’s personal lawyers—had no intention of making them.