1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

I am writing to express my deep alarm over reports that the Department of Justice is considering settling President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS — with terms that could permanently shield him, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, other family members, and their businesses from any future audits. This is not a routine civil settlement. This would be the President’s own Justice Department — an agency under his direct control — negotiating a special exemption from tax oversight that no ordinary American citizen could ever obtain. Federal law already mandates the annual audit of a sitting president’s returns. Waiving that requirement for this president, whose previously leaked tax returns showed he paid little or no income tax for years, and who faces a potential loss of over $100 million in an existing audit, would be an extraordinary and deeply troubling use of government power for personal financial benefit. A federal judge has already questioned whether this lawsuit is even constitutionally valid, noting that the President is effectively on both sides of the case. She has appointed independent legal counsel and requested briefings by May 20. Settling before she can rule appears designed to circumvent her oversight entirely. If the settlement involves any taxpayer funds, experts estimate it could cost every American income taxpayer roughly $100. That is unconscionable. I urge you to speak out against this settlement, support legislation barring presidents from collecting government settlement payments, and demand full transparency into these negotiations. No one is above the law — including the President.