U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) annual fundraising dinner in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
On Wednesday night, a new twist in the court case pitting President Donald Trump versus the IRS indicated that the controversial anti-weaponization “slush fund” that emerged from his initial settlement is anything but dead. According to Lawfare senior editor Roger Parloff, Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter filed a motion demanding that the case be reassigned to a new judge, claiming that the one currently presiding rushed an opinion in an effort to produce it before Attorney General Todd Blanche was confirmed.
On July 13, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams had issued a blistering slapdown of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and its resulting slush fund settlement. As Politico explains, “Williams accused Trump of filing the lawsuit to ‘gain the imprimatur of judicial legitimacy for a “settlement” that had no viable basis in law or fact.’ She also said exempting Trump from audits would violate a federal law that prohibits the White House from directing IRS investigations.” She went on to note “that the case itself defied legal procedure because Trump sued an administration he runs, essentially putting him in the position of both plaintiff and defendant.”
“The court declines to adopt or accept the credulous exercise of divorcing President Trump’s current job title from an understanding of what happened here,” wrote Williams. “The Lead Plaintiff and the Government are one, a fully realized unitary interest.” In other words, she ruled that there had been collusion between both sides of the suit, issued sanctions against Trump’s attorneys, and ordered an investigation into whether there had been an effort to mislead the court.
Trump has appealed the ruling. While he initially backed away from the fund in an effort to secure Blanche’s confirmation, he has maintained his demand for immunity from IRS audits. Now with Blanche confirmed, commentators say Trump is likely to resume his push for both the fund and immunity.
In their appeal, Trump’s lawyers said Williams’ order “incorrectly branded the litigation collusive, mistakenly accused Plaintiffs and counsel of bad faith, threatened professional licenses and reputations, imposed monetary sanctions, and entered a sweeping injunction forbidding future reference to the Settlement Agreement.” Now, McCotter’s request that the case be reassigned asserts that Judge Williams’ order “contains numerous factual errors, typos, and erroneous citations, all suggesting a rush to issue Order.” He alleges that the “circumstances give the strong appearance that the rushed issuance was done for an improper political motivation,” because the order “repeatedly criticized the actions and ethics of the Department of Justice and Mr. Blanche.”
Regardless of whether or not these assertions end up holding water, they make clear that Trump and his allies intend to continue pursuing a slush fund to benefit J6 rioters and tax audit immunity for the president and his family.
