An appeals court just REFUSED to lift sanctions on Trump's lawyers after a judge found his $10 billion lawsuit against his own IRS was COLLUSION. The sanctions now stay in force during the appeal.
On Tuesday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to pause the sanctions over Trump's IRS lawsuit. The judges wrote that Trump's side "did not submit or offer any evidence" showing that the lawsuit, and the deal that ended it, weren't collusive.
Trump and his sons Don Jr. and Eric sued the IRS and Treasury on January 29, demanding at least $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns. Both agencies answer to him. On May 18, he dropped the case before the government ever filed a defense.
That same day, the Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund to pay people who say past administrations targeted them, including people convicted of violently storming the Capitol on January 6. The deal also promised to shield Trump, his family and his businesses from IRS audits.
In July, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams found Trump controlled both sides of the case. "There was never a question as to who would prevail," she wrote. She referred Trump lawyer Alejandro Brito to the Florida Bar, barred lawyer Daniel Epstein from appearing in South Florida federal court for a year, and banned everyone involved from calling the arrangement a court settlement in official proceedings.
Trump's lawyers called the sanctions "extraordinary, unjust" and accused Williams of timing her order to "inflict political damage on the President." The Justice Department, which was technically the defendant in Trump's own lawsuit, joined Trump's side of the appeal.
Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former criminal defense lawyer, told senators the fund "never started." Then on Monday, Ed Martin, who held senior Justice Department jobs until August, told a conservative podcaster that nobody at the DOJ or the White House "has given up on the idea of reimbursing people."
A group of 35 former federal judges has asked Williams to reopen the whole case. She hasn't ruled yet.
