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U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams concludes that the case never presented a true "case or controversy" because both sides were controlled by the president.

The decision also recommended disciplinary action against the lawyers involved, including the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche.

Trump's lawsuit against the IRS was settled by the Justice Department with an agreement to create a $1.8 billion "lawfare" fund that has since been scrapped.

In our news wrap Monday, a federal judge ruled that President Trump's lawsuit against the IRS was filed for an "improper purpose," Maine lawmakers are calling for an investigation after ICE agents shot and killed a motorist, Ukraine is joining nine nations in creating a coalition to protect Europe from Russia's ballistic missiles and a fire that consumed a Bangkok bar killed at least 27 people.

President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS received a blistering rebuke by a federal judge on Monday. SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images A US judge issued a full-throated repudiation of Trump in a Monday ruling, POLITICO reported. Trump's lawsuit attempted to justify a settlement with an "anti-weaponization" fund, Judge Kathleen Williams wrote. She sanctioned two of Trump's personal attorneys who signed the initial complaint against the IRS. A federal judge held Monday that President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS was manufactured simply to justify its settlement, including a multibillion-dollar "anti-weaponization" fund for political allies and a shield from IRS scrutiny. "This lawsuit was not brought to vindicate rights; it was brought to manipulate the judicial process," US District Judge Kathleen Williams wrote in a blistering 56-page ruling, POLITICO reported. POLITICO, like Business Insider, is a part of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network. "This was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law," the ruling said. The fact that the federal government never countered arguments that the arrangement was unconstitutional —and that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche unilaterally canceled plans for the Anti-Weaponization Fund — was a glaring signal that the lawsuit was not genuine, Williams said. Williams suggested that Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stan Woodward may be subject to investigative or disciplinary action by state bar associations. She also sanctioned two of Trump's personal attorneys who signed the initial complaint against the Internal Revenue Service, referring Alejandro Brito to the Florida bar for potential discipline and banning Daniel Epstein from practicing in the Southern District of Florida for at least a year. The plaintiffs, including Trump, and certain agencies are also barred from citing the agreement in official proceedings as evidence of a formal settlement. Though the administration has argued that Trump had filed the lawsuit — a demand for a $10 billion payout for the leak of his tax returns — in his personal capacity, Williams said that explanation was untenable. "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," she wrote. "The Lead Plaintiff and the Government are one, a fully realized unitary interest." Williams added that Trump could have brought the lawsuit while he was a private citizen, but appears to have waited until he was reelected president and appointed his former lawyer to help lead the DOJ. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House referred questions to Trump's personal lawyers. "The IRS wrongly allowed a rogue, politically motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization to the New York Times, ProPublica, and other left-wing news outlets, which was then illegally released to millions of people," a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said. "President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable." The ruling is a full-throated repudiation of Trump and his administration at a delicate moment for Blanche, who faces a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday at which the Anti-Weaponization Fund could play a prominent role. Williams said she was "extremely troubled" by Blanche's testimony to Congress about the settlement in May, saying his suggestion that the court could not review the settlement agreement was "at best, misleading and, at worst, disingenuous." The Obama-appointed judge took particular umbrage at the Justice Department's decision to remain "conspicuously absent" from the Trump-IRS litigation, even when serious questions were raised about its legitimacy. "Under these circumstances, the Court may reasonably infer that the Government failed to defend this lawsuit … because its position would not withstand judicial scrutiny and because resolution of the threshold issues identified by the Court would not have favored its preferred outcome to this case," Williams said. This story originally appeared on POLITICO and is courtesy of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which harnesses the resources of the company's newsrooms to publish ambitious scoops, investigations, interviews, opinion pieces, and analysis. It allows journalists — including those from POLITICO, Business Insider, WELT, BILD, Onet, and Fakt — to collaborate on major stories for an international audience of hundreds of millions across platforms. Read the original article on Business Insider

The judge said the suit was brought for 'improper purposes' and referred a Trump attorney for possible disciplinary action.

Kathleen Williams sanctions president’s lawyers and says $10bn suit against IRS was brought for ‘improper purpose’ A federal judge on Monday nullified an agreement the government reached with Donald Trump and his sons over the leak of his tax returns. The judge lambasted the government and president’s lawyers for using the judicial process to try to concoct a beneficial arrangement for the president. The ruling from US district judge Kathleen Williams in the southern district of Florida blocks a widely criticized arrangement the government and the president’s attorneys reached earlier this year to resolve a $10bn lawsuit by Trump and his sons over the leak of the president’s tax returns. The government never responded to the lawsuit and then announced it was settling the suit by creating a $1.8bn slush fund to compensate victims of “government weaponization” and giving the president, his family, and related entities immunity from tax audits. Continue reading...

A federal judge in Florida has found President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service was brought in “bad faith” for an “improper purpose.”

A federal judge Monday blasted President Trump’s settlement with the IRS, finding that the lawsuit that served as the hook for the $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund amounted to collusion as the two parties were never truly averse. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams also sanctions Trump’s attorneys on the case while suggesting Acting Attorney General Todd…

The court's conservatives said the president had the authority to remove all officials who wield executive authority, even if the agency officials had fixed terms set by law.