2026-07-13T16:21:03.552Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/13/politics/trump-irs-judge-ruling-settlement-sanctions
联邦法官周一表示，总统唐纳德·特朗普针对国税局提起的一起争议性诉讼企图“操纵司法程序”，且他在提起该诉讼时存在恶意。
美国地区法官凯瑟琳·威廉姆斯下令对涉及这起诉讼的律师实施制裁，该诉讼曾试图设立现已解散的规模达18亿美元的“反武器化”基金，用于资助总统的盟友。该诉讼还被用作特朗普政府一项行政令的依据，该行政令授予总统及其企业过往税务问题的豁免权。
威廉姆斯在长达56页的判决意见中严厉抨击了司法部的行为，称司法部对该案的回应无视了司法部政策乃至可能违反了法律，同时也批评了代表特朗普提起诉讼的私人律师。
“从诉讼本身的性质，以及从案件提起至今各方及律师的行为来看，这显然是企图利用法院为一项协议提供合法性，该协议旨在豁免与总统相关的个人和实体，并从美国纳税人手中划拨数十亿美元资金，以弥补法律未规定的不满诉求，”法官写道。
她下令将这份判决意见提交给纽约和华盛顿特区的律师纪律委员会，这些委员会正在审查针对代理司法部长托德·布兰奇和副司法部长斯坦利·伍德沃德的既有职业伦理投诉。
“政府放弃了尽职尽责捍卫美国利益的责任，达成了一项‘和解协议’，该协议偏离了其在类似诉讼中的诉讼立场，无视司法部政策，实现了法律未授权以及明确禁止的目标，”威廉姆斯写道。
法官还将代表特朗普参与此案的一名私人律师转交佛罗里达律师协会处理潜在的纪律程序，并禁止另一名代表特朗普的律师在未来一年内于南佛罗里达地区法院出庭。
威廉姆斯的判决意见是针对一群退休法官的请求作出的。这些法官在她驳回该诉讼后提出请求，要求她对该和解协议进行审查。这位由巴拉克·奥巴马总统任命的法官的新命令表明，这些退休法官可能有权获得其法律费用的报销。
退休法官们的律师将周一的判决称为“法治的重大胜利”。
美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）已联系司法部征求评论。
特朗普私人法律团队的一名发言人表示：“国税局错误地允许一名胆大妄为、受政治动机驱使的员工向《纽约时报》、ProPublica和其他左翼新闻媒体泄露关于特朗普总统、其家人以及特朗普集团的私人机密信息，随后这些信息被非法传播给数百万民众。特朗普总统将继续追究那些损害美国和美国人民利益的人的责任。”
国税局与特朗普今年达成的和解协议源于六年前一名政府承包商泄露包括特朗普在内的数千名富人的税务信息事件。
这名男子名叫查尔斯·利特尔约翰，2023年被指控在其受雇于一家与国税局有合同的咨询公司期间向媒体泄露税务信息。他于2024年认罪并被判处五年监禁。
特朗普领导的司法部于今年5月宣布与总统就此次泄密事件达成和解，其中包括设立17.76亿美元的基金，用于那些认为自己遭到司法部不公平 targeting 的人。
在两党强烈反对声中，布兰奇上月对议员表示该基金已不复存在，但他拒绝了联邦法官提出的提交书面声明确认该基金已终止的要求。
对特朗普而言更重要的是，和解协议中包含了布兰奇签署的一份备忘录——该备忘录在次日司法部发布和解协议公告时被悄悄追加——禁止国税局调查特朗普、其家人或其企业的过往税务问题，甚至禁止联邦政府就该协议生效前的任何行为提出其他类型的索赔。
即便在周一威廉姆斯发布判决意见之前，鉴于该协议的法律基础存疑，布兰奇签署的豁免令也不太可能阻止未来的民主党政府对特朗普展开调查。
但如果未来的政府对特朗普、其家人或其企业提起诉讼，法官的这项新命令可能会削弱特朗普以所谓和解协议作为法庭辩护依据的任何企图。
威廉姆斯详细阐述了司法部处理该诉讼的方式——以及为何司法部“在有关此事的严肃问题被提出时明显缺席并保持沉默”——以此解释她为何认定这并非一起合法的法律纠纷。
但她也暗示，布兰奇和伍德沃德可能违反了律师伦理法律，他们签署了法官认为非法的协议。
她表示，这两名司法部官员本应回避处理这起纠纷，因为他们在私人律师执业期间曾代表可能从该案结果中获益的客户。
在重返白宫之前，布兰奇曾在多起刑事案件中担任特朗普的律师，而伍德沃德则代表过国会山骚乱事件的被告以及一名与特朗普一同在机密文件案中被起诉的特朗普助手。
法官周一指出，该“反武器化”基金“基于”为2021年1月6日事件和机密文件案中的索赔支付款项。
“这些律师没有因为之前的代理行为回避此案，也没有按照司法部政策和程序的要求积极为这起诉讼辩护，反而同意了一项‘和解协议’，该协议涉及可能使前客户受益的巨额资金，”威廉姆斯写道。
法官还补充说，“和解协议”的第二部分——仅由布兰奇签署的税务豁免令——“直接违反”了禁止总统和其他行政部门领导人干预税务审计的联邦法律。
威廉姆斯表示，“默许任何此类要求与司法部律师（以及国税局首席执行官弗兰克·比西尼亚诺）执法和保护公共利益的职责完全不相容”，这进一步表明该命令可能也违反宪法。
该判决意见发布之际，布兰奇定于周三出席参议院司法委员会的确认听证会，以担任司法部常任部长。威廉姆斯在脚注中写道，她“极为担忧”布兰奇5月在国会山作证时的言论，当时他称法院无权审查该协议。
“虽然从时间上看是准确的，但这种说法充其量具有误导性，最坏的情况下则是不诚实的，”她写道。
本文已更新补充更多细节。
CNN记者汉娜·拉宾诺维茨和卡拉·斯坎内尔为本报道贡献了内容。
https://www.cnn.com/
Judge: Trump sought to ‘manipulate the judicial process’ with his IRS lawsuit and attempted $1.8B fund
2026-07-13T16:21:03.552Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/13/politics/trump-irs-judge-ruling-settlement-sanctions
A federal judge on Monday said a controversial lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump against the IRS sought to “manipulate the judicial process” and that he acted in bad faith in bringing it.
US District Judge Kathleen Williams is ordering sanctions for the attorneys involved in the lawsuit, which led to an attempt to create the now-defunct $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for allies of the president. It was also used to justify a Trump administration order giving the president and his businesses amnesty for any past tax issues.
Williams’ 56-page opinion blasted the behavior of both the Justice Department — arguing that the administration’s response to the case disregarded DOJ policies and potentially the law — and of the private attorneys who brought the lawsuit on Trump’s behalf.
“The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law,” the judge wrote.
She ordered that her opinion be submitted to attorney disciplinary boards in in New York and Washington, DC, that are reviewing preexisting professional ethics complaints against acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.
“In abdicating its responsibility to zealously defend the interests of the United States, the Government entered into a ‘settlement’ that deviated from its litigation posture in similar actions, disregarded DOJ policies, and accomplished objectives beyond those authorized, as well as those specifically prohibited, by law,” Williams wrote.
The judge also referred one of the private attorneys who represented Trump in the case to the Florida Bar for potential disciplinary proceedings and blocked another lawyer who represented Trump from court appearances in the Southern District of Florida for the next year.
Williams’ opinion came in response to a request from a group of retired judges, filed after she dismissed the lawsuit, that she scrutinize the deal. The new order from Williams — who was appointed by President Barack Obama — indicates the retired judges could be entitled to having their legal fees covered.
Attorneys for the former judges called Monday’s opinion a “resounding victory for the rule of law.”
CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
A spokesman for Trump’s private legal team said: “The IRS wrongly allowed a rogue, politically-motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization to the New York Times, ProPublica and other left-wing news outlets, which was then illegally released to millions of people. President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”
The settlement between the IRS and Trump this year stemmed from a significant leak of tax information on thousands of wealthy individuals, including Trump, by a government contractor six years ago.
The man, Charles Littlejohn, was charged in 2023 with leaking the tax information to media outlets during his time working with a consulting firm with IRS contracts. He pleaded guilty in 2024 and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Trump’s Justice Department announced in May it reached a settlement with the president over the leaked information that included a $1.776 billion fund for those who believed they had been unfairly targeted by the DOJ.
Amid significant backlash from Republicans and Democrats, Blanche told lawmakers last month the fund was dead, but he has refused a federal judge’s request to submit a signed statement saying the fund was no more.
More importantly for Trump, the settlement included a memorandum from Blanche — quietly added to the Justice Department’s announcement of the settlement the following day — prohibiting the IRS from investigating Trump, his family or his businesses for past tax issues, or even other types of claims brought by the federal government for any conduct pre-dating the deal.
Even before Williams’ Monday opinion, it was unlikely that the Blanche amnesty order would have stopped a future Democratic administration from investigating Trump, given the dubious legal ground around the agreement.
But the new order from the judge could undermine any attempt by Trump to use the purported settlement as a defense in court, if a future administration brings a claim against him, his family or his businesses.
Williams wrote at length about the Justice Department’s approach to the lawsuit — and how it “remained conspicuously absent and silent when serious questions about this matter have been raised” — to explain why she concluded it was not a legitimate legal dispute.
But she also hinted that Blanche and Woodward specifically may have violated attorney ethics laws, while signing on to a deal that the judge believes to be unlawful.
She suggested the two Justice Department officials should have recused themselves from working on the dispute, because of their work when they were private attorneys representing clients who stood to benefit from the case’s resolution.
Blanche was Trump’s attorney in various criminal cases before the president’s return to the White House, while Woodward represented Capitol riot defendants and a Trump aide who was prosecuted alongside the president in the classified documents case.
The anti-weaponization fund was “premised” on paying out claims from January 6, 2021, and the classified documents case, the judge noted Monday.
https://www.cnn.com/
“Instead of either recusing because of their previous representations or vigorously defending this lawsuit as required to do so by DOJ policies and procedures, these lawyers agreed to a ‘settlement’ involving a staggering amount of money potentially benefitting former clients,” Williams wrote.
The judge additionally said the second piece of the “settlement” — the tax amnesty order signed by Blanche alone — “directly contravenes” a federal law barring presidents and other executive branch leaders from influencing tax audits.
Williams said the “acquiescing to any such demand is wholly incompatible with the duties of DOJ attorneys (as well as CEO [Frank] Bisignano for the IRS) to enforce the law and protect the public interest,” raising the prospect that the order is unconstitutional as well.
The opinion comes as Blanche is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for a confirmation hearing to be the permanent head of the DOJ. Williams wrote in a footnote that she was “extremely troubled” by testimony Blanche gave when he was on the Hill in May, when he said the court had no role in reviewing the agreement.
“While temporally accurate, this answer is, at best, misleading and, at worst, disingenuous,” she wrote.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz and Kara Scannell contributed to this report.
发表回复