'Corruption meter is flashing': Hillary Clinton slams Trump's potential $10 billion IRS settlement

The Department of Justice is reportedly holding discussions about settling President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service soon, a move that would be highly controversial as it would directly provide taxpayers' funds to the President. Reacting to the news, former first lady Hillary Clinton sounded the alarm against blatant "corruption" taking place behind closed doors.

Citing people familiar with the deliberations, the New York Times reported that the Justice Department and White House officials are reviewing possibilities to settle the case that Trump, his two sons, and his Trump family business filed seeking damages from the IRS over the 2020 leak of their tax returns. Critics have long raised ethical concerns over a collusive settlement that would enrich the President at the public's expense as Trump oversees the IRS. Clinton argued on X that this was a brazen corruption, saying, "The President is negotiating against his own administration to shake down taxpayers for $10 billion." Sharing a headline of the story, she added: "The corruption meter is flashing red and sounding the alarm."

NYT reported that internal discussions are being held to review the possibilities of a settlement, one of which includes dropping any audits of Trump, his family members, or businesses. One of the sources familiar with the matter told the publication that no firm decision has been made, and it remains unclear if a monetary settlement is being considered. The prospect of an outside settlement has been met with skepticism in court, as per CNN. A federal judge last month questioned the constitutionality of Trump's lawsuit, ordering a hearing to determine whether it was possible for a president to sue the federal agencies he oversees.

Given the ethical concerns, the judge in the case has taken a series of legal steps to probe whether there is a genuine controversy between the Justice Department and Trump. For a lawsuit to be valid, the two parties need to be on opposite sides, or else the judge can throw out the case. Trump's personal lawyers and the Justice Department, which represents the IRS, have been ordered to submit briefs by May 20, explaining whether they are in conflict. However, White House officials have been exploring ways to settle the case before that deadline, as per the report. 

The case stems from an incident in 2017, when a worker named Charles "Chaz" Littlejohn was appointed as a contractor through the government consulting firm Booz Allen. While working on IRS files, he stole copies of tax returns of Trump and other prominent figures and eventually leaked them to The New York Times and ProPublica. The publications then released a series of articles showing how Trump avoided paying income taxes and inconsistencies in his filings. While Littlejohn was sentenced to prison in 2024, citing privacy laws that protect taxpayer information, Trump filed a lawsuit arguing that he, his businesses, and his sons Eric and Donald Jr had suffered "significant and irreparable harm" from the leaks, which amounted to a restitution of a whopping $10 billion, according to Al Jazeera.  The lawsuit argued that the government failed to protect the confidential tax information and that the agencies could have done more.