Attorney General Bonta Leads Multistate Amicus Condemning Unprecedented Misuse of Legal System in Trump v. IRS

June 23, 2026 Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov Litigation and manufactured “settlement” agreement designed to create a tax-payer funded windfall for President Trump and his family OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today, leading a coalition of 23 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to carefully scrutinize the parties’ conduct and purported “settlement” agreement in Trump v. IRS. In January 2026, President Trump, his family, and his business organization filed suit against the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) asserting claims related to the disclosure of President Trump’s tax return information by a government contractor. The District Court noted the possible lack of real adversity between the parties to the lawsuit and was skeptical of its own jurisdiction, but shortly before briefing on that issue was due, President Trump voluntarily dismissed his claims and entered into a “settlement” agreement with the Department of Justice granting President Trump and his family immunity from all investigations and prosecutions related to past conduct and requiring the Department of Justice to establish a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization” fund. In the brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that the lawsuit, and subsequent settlement, are nothing more than a collusive fraud engineered to violate the constitutional limits on presidential authority under the veneer of a settlement, all at the expense of American taxpayers. said Attorney General Bonta. “We cannot become desensitized to the self-dealing and rank partisanship by this Administration. We cannot standby and sanction the President Trump’s latest boondoggle. We urge the Court to take a closer look.” Trump v. IRS under Rule 60, which permits a court to set aside a judgment and reopen a case on the basis that there was fraud or deception perpetrated by parties upon the court. In today’s brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition offer their perspective as the chief law officers of their states, highlighting that the self-dealing and corrupt nature of this settlement agreement is antithetical to the responsibilities of attorneys general and the rule of law. issued an open letter to the legal community in response to President Trump’s calls for the impeachment of federal judges and threats of retribution against law firms. He stood with WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and Perkins Coie in amicus briefs in support of their lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s retaliatory executive orders targeting law firms that represent clients or positions it disagrees with. And he issued a separate statement on the need to speak up and push back when our democratic norms are violated, our legal system is undermined, and our laws are broken.  New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey and challenging Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr’s campaign of censorship that led to the suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. Tags:  Federal Accountability Federal Accountability:  Rule of Law