Eleventh Circuit Rejects Trump’s Emergency Motion to Stay Sanctions Over Sham IRS Suit
September 29, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Eleventh Circuit denied the Trump administration’s request to pause sanctions imposed after a federal judge found that Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and later slush fund and liability-release agreements were “collusive and filed for an improper purpose.” Trump’s DOJ failed to contest the lawsuit and then agreed to a nearly $1.8 billion so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” widely panned as a slush fund for Trump allies. The agreement also included an unprecedented release of liability, including back taxes, for Trump, his family, and his businesses. The appellate court declined to stay the ruling while the administration’s appeal moves forward. The court specifically found that Trump and his attorneys were not likely to overturn the court’s findings that they and Trump’s DOJ acted collusively and in bad faith.
Following is a statement from Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and board member of Democracy Defenders Action, and Matthew Platkin of Platkin LLP, who along with Susman Godfrey LLP, represent a bipartisan coalition of 35 former federal judges, who asked Federal Judge Kathleen Williams to re-open the case:
“As we said from the beginning, Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS was a sham, and the slush fund and global release deals that flowed from it were too. The Eleventh Circuit saw this collusive scheme for exactly what it is and refused to stay the consequences. We are glad to have played a crucial role in the judiciary’s independent examination of the collusive conduct in this case, and we will continue to do so.”
###
Democracy Defenders Action brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.
For media inquiries, contact, press@democracydefenders.org.
Featured Image, Tada Images – stock.adobe.com
