Washington, Jan 30 (NationPress) Former President Donald Trump has initiated a civil lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the US Treasury Department, demanding a minimum of $10 billion in damages due to the unauthorized release of his tax return details by a contractor who subsequently admitted guilt to a felony.

The legal action, lodged on Thursday in federal court located in the Southern District of Florida, identifies the IRS and the Treasury as defendants, with Trump filing the suit alongside his two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as the Trump Organization.

This lawsuit focuses on Charles “Chaz” Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor currently serving a five-year prison term after confessing to illicitly accessing and revealing confidential taxpayer data. Prosecutors indicated that Littlejohn aimed to secure IRS-related employment to obtain and leak tax records.

According to the lawsuit, “Defendants have inflicted reputational and financial damage upon Plaintiffs, caused public humiliation, unfairly damaged their business reputations, misrepresented them, and adversely impacted President Trump and the other Plaintiffs’ public image.”

The legal complaint is based on federal laws which permit taxpayers to seek compensation from the government for the intentional or negligent disclosure of protected tax information.

Trump and the other plaintiffs assert that the IRS had a legal obligation to protect their tax data but failed to enforce adequate administrative, technical, and physical security measures.

The complaint alleges that from 2018 to 2020, Littlejohn accessed and disclosed tax return information belonging to Trump, his family members, and numerous Trump Organization entities. The leaked information was later utilized in reports by outlets like The New York Times and ProPublica.

The plaintiffs argue that while those articles were published years earlier, they were not officially informed by the Treasury Department until much later that an IRS contractor was responsible for the leaks. The lawsuit claims this delay is significant because federal law typically imposes a two-year limit for filing such claims.

“Plaintiffs had no reason to suspect an unauthorized disclosure had occurred for two reasons,” the complaint explains, citing the lack of attribution to the IRS in early reports and an internal review that concluded the disclosure did not originate from the agency.

This filing demands statutory damages, punitive damages, and reimbursement for legal expenses, asserting that the extensive nature of the breach—spanning multiple years of tax returns and hundreds of related entities—justifies an eleven-figure claim.

This lawsuit emerges shortly after the Treasury Department announced the termination of contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton, the consulting firm that employed Littlejohn during his IRS-related work. Federal officials stated this decision followed concerns regarding the firm’s inadequate protection of sensitive taxpayer information.

Last year, Littlejohn's criminal case concluded with a five-year prison sentence after he acknowledged that he knowingly and willfully disclosed confidential tax data. Prosecutors noted that his actions undermined public confidence in the IRS's ability to safeguard sensitive financial information.

The IRS has not publicly addressed the lawsuit.

Previously, the IRS recognized shortcomings in its data security systems following the Littlejohn incident and stated it has made “significant investments” to bolster protections. In a separate lawsuit filed by another breach victim, hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, the agency issued an apology and subsequently arrived at a resolution.