(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A group of 35 little-known former federal judges gained national attention Wednesday after filing a petition urging a federal court to reopen President Donald Trump’s case against the IRS — seemingly in a bid to cancel a $1.776 billion settlement fund.
The now-settled lawsuit paved the way for the creation of a $1.776 billion restitution fund intended for victims of federal government weaponization. Democrats quickly attacked the arrangement, claiming without evidence that the fund would primarily benefit Trump allies.
The former federal judges echoed those attacks in their filing, purporting that Trump and his administration deceived the court and that the fund would ultimately be administered by a commission “effectively controlled” by Trump.
Trump originally sued the IRS and the Treasury Department in January after the agencies failed to prevent the leak of his tax returns to hostile legacy media outlets.
The president previously said that any money collected from the federal government would be donated to charity. However, before the case was scheduled to proceed further, Trump voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit and instead announced the $1.776 billion compensation fund.
In their petition, the 35 former judges asked U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams of the Southern District of Florida to reopen the case and scrutinize the settlement, though it is unclear if she even has jurisdiction over the matter settled outside her court.
“The purported ‘settlement’ that the parties never placed before this Court raises profound questions about the parties’ candor toward the Court and manipulation of the judicial system, which threatens to undermine confidence in the administration of justice,” the former judges claimed.
Despite the legal obstacles, the former judges added that the court should “commence an inquiry into whether the Court was deceived, including with respect to the existence of an underlying case or controversy and any purported arms-length negotiations undertaken to resolve it.”
Critics on X quickly mocked the filing, comparing it to the infamous letter signed by 51 “spies who lied” who falsely claimed the Hunter Biden laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign during the 2020 presidential election.
