Former tax enforcement officials and government watchdog groups submitted an amicus brief Monday challenging the immunity order shielding President Donald Trump and his family from tax audits and federal investigations that emerged from the settlement of his lawsuit against the IRS.
The DOJ lacked statutory authority to release Trump’s tax liability and the arrangement violates the Domestic Emoluments Clause and IRC Section 7217, a provision specifically prohibiting presidential interference in tax enforcement, the amici told the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, former DOJ Tax Division officials Kathryn Keneally, Nina Olson, and Gilbert Rothenberg, along with advocacy organizations Common Cause and the Project on Government Oversight, joined the brief.
The case centers on the May settlement in which Trump dropped tax disclosure claims against the IRS in exchange for a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche then issued a separate order the following day granting sweeping civil and criminal immunity to Trump, his family, and affiliated businesses across both tax and non-tax matters—which the brief said extended far beyond any claims at issue in the underlying lawsuit.
Trump subsequently nominated Blanche to be attorney general.
“The unprecedented Immunity Order is a brazen, but ultimately illegal, gift to President Trump,” the brief said.
They further argue the settlement constitutes fraud on the court, saying Trump effectively controlled litigation on both sides of the case. The amicus brief follows a pending motion by 35 former federal judges also seeking to reopen the matter.
The settlement also violates Section 7122, because the attorney general can only settle tax cases formally referred to the DOJ, and no such referrals existed for the Trump-affiliated taxpayers covered by the order, the brief said.
“If the Immunity Order is allowed to stand, it will enshrine two separate tax codes, one for President Trump, his family, and his ‘affiliates,’ and another for every other American,” the brief said.
Brito PLLC represents Trump.
Democracy Forward Foundation represents the amici.
The case is Trump v. IRS, S.D. Fla., No. 1:26-cv-20609, amicus brief filed 6/22/26.