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A federal judge in Miami reopened President Trump\u2019s $10 billion case against the I.R.S. in a striking turnabout, saying that she wanted to investigate \u201cgrievous allegations\u201d that the hasty deal to resolve it was \u201cpremised on deception.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ruling by the judge, Kathleen M. Williams, on Friday to revive the case shortly after closing it was a significant blow both to Mr. Trump, who had voluntarily dismissed the suit last week, and to the Justice Department. After the president withdrew the suit, senior department officials released a pair of extraordinary agreements that settled the case by establishing a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claimed they were victims of government \u201cweaponization\u201d by Democrats.<\/p>\n
The deal also conferred lucrative tax benefits on Mr. Trump, his family and his businesses.<\/p>\n
Judge Williams\u2019s decision came in response to court papers filed on Wednesday by a bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges who urged her to bring the case back to life<\/a> and dig into the details of the agreement to settle it.<\/p>\n The former judges said that Mr. Trump\u2019s settlement agreement raised serious questions about his \u201ccandor toward the court and manipulation of the judicial system.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Before she closed the case, Judge Williams, an Obama appointee, had in fact questioned whether the lawsuit presented an actual conflict that she could adjudicate, given that Mr. Trump was on both sides of the suit, bringing claims against a federal agency that he controlled. When she closed it, she noted there was no \u201csettlement of record,\u201d but shortly after, the Justice Department released its agreement foreclosing the action.<\/p>\n In her brief but stern order<\/a> on Friday, Judge Williams said that she wanted to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr. Trump\u2019s efforts to settle the lawsuit in a way that benefited him and his allies. If she succeeds in moving forward with her inquiry, it could ultimately result in questions being asked of the Justice Department leaders who signed the agreements to settle the suit \u2014 chief among them, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, and Stanley Woodward Jr., the No. 3 official in the department.<\/p>\n In her order, Judge Williams asserted that she was \u201cempowered to investigate serious misconduct\u201d in any case before her, and ordered Mr. Trump\u2019s lawyers to tell her by June 12 whether the lawsuit should be formally reopened because \u201cthe court was the victim of a fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n She also wanted Mr. Trump\u2019s lawyers to respond to the question of whether he had colluded with his own government to settle the case \u201cto avoid judicial scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.<\/p>\n Judge Williams pointed to reporting by The New York Times that described how the I.R.S. had prepared a 25-page memorandum<\/a> outlining defenses against the suit that the Justice Department did not take up in court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Lawyers for the former judges hailed Judge Williams\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n \u201cThe judges and their counsel greatly appreciate the seriousness with which the court is addressing these grievous allegations,\u201d said Norman Eisen, who represented the former judges for the nonprofit group, Democracy Defenders Fund. \u201cWe stand ready to work with the court as it investigates this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Eisen was joined by the law firms Platkin and Susman Godfrey.<\/p>\n In their filing this week, the former judges claimed that Mr. Trump had improperly used his suit against the I.R.S. as a way to obtain \u201cunlawful private benefits\u201d for himself and his family, and to create a fund that would dole out taxpayer money \u201cwithout constitutional or congressional authority.\u201d<\/p>\n They also argued that the president had tried to shield the deal from judicial oversight by rushing a settlement and \u201cshort-circuiting\u201d Judge Williams\u2019s ability to examine its terms.<\/p>\n The $1.8 billion fund has faced separate legal headwinds. A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia temporarily blocked the Trump administration from taking any further steps to set it up or disburse money from it. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including many Republicans, have also been critical of the fund, which upended G.O.P. plans to pass a party-line bill<\/a> funding immigration enforcement efforts last week.<\/p>\n