DOJ Formally Assigns Criminal Tax Functions to National Fraud Enforcement Division (8/18/26)

DOJ has adopted a final rule authorizing the National Fraud Enforcement Division and, in relevant part, assigning to the NFED “All criminal proceedings arising under the internal revenue laws.” See AG Order No. 7108-2026, 91 FR 53357 (8/18/26), here, adding Subpart M-National Fraud Enforcement Division 0.70 General Functions assigned to the NFED.

Questions for Tax Crimes and Tax Procedure Students on Trump's "Settlement" in Trump v. IRS (8/6/26)

 I have posted my Federal Tax Procedure Book to SSRN, see here. Since it is timely, although a moving target that we sure have not heard the last of yet, I thought I would post the concluding paragraphs of my discussion of Trump v. IRS that Trump and his buddies at DOJ (most notably Blanch, but not only Blanche) tried to use as a pretext to raid the Treasury.

In my opinion, Trump and his buddies new they would draw flack on that package, so they must have realized that the Anti-Weaponization Fund was just a ploy, a stalking horse. The real goal was tax audit immunity which for now has not been taken off the table. I discuss that in the Federal Tax Procedure Book (Student Edition pp.  802-805; Practitioner Edition pp. 1118-1192). I conclude that discussion with some further discussion questions for students of tax crimes and tax procedure:

Exercise for Students: Readers of Chapter Six discussing tax and tax-related crimes should be able easily to spot several tax and tax-related crimes that this conduct might implicate, particularly the ubiquitous defraud conspiracy. One possibility is that anyone participating materially in the audit immunity could be an affirmative act of evasion with respect to the taxes covered or an overt act of conspiracy (offense or defraud). In theory, if that were viable, all of the key players in this drama stand exposed to criminal prosecution. Of course, the prosecutions, if any, will have to be brought by DOJ which Trump can prevent while he is President but can then be brought in the next Administration unless Trump gives sweeping pardons to all who were involved. (I suspect and have read that those actors are counting on such pardons.) One final question worth asking is whether Trump’s control of DOJ and IRS could implicate some conduct for which the Supreme Court has given full or qualified immunity in Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593 (2024).

Another Exercise for Students: Tax procedure students should think about the settlement authorities discussed earlier in this text. Thus, generally, only the IRS has settlement authority for cases that it has not yet referred to DOJ. DOJ has settlement authority only for cases that the IRS referred. Facially, it appeared in Trump v. IRS that the IRS had only transferred authority to DOJ over the § 7431 wrongful disclosure suit. There is no indication that the IRS referred all of the matters sweepingly released in the Release Order to DOJ, and there is no indication that the IRS “settled” those claims.

Concluding thoughts: If nothing else, Trump v. IRS and its resulting commotions will occupy tax procedure and tax crimes enthusiasts for a long time.

 This blog entry is cross-posted on the Federal Tax Procedure Blog here.

2026 Federal Tax Procedure Book Student and Practitioner Editions (8/4/26)

I have published to SSRN my Federal Tax Procedure Book Student and Practitioner Editions. For information on the SSRN links to download see the page on my Federal Tax Procedure Blog “Federal Tax Procedure Book (2026 Editions) (8/4/26)” here.

FTPB 2016 Editions Discussion of Trump v. IRS and Its Resulting Machinations (8/3/26)

I am trying to wrap up the 2026 Editions of my Federal Tax Procedure Book but the ongoing drama by DOJ’s $2.77 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund and Trump and related party tax immunity does not permit an easy stopping point. But I have to stop and have just concluded all that will be in the 2026 Editions that I hope to publish later this week. I thought I would post the discussion below (the Student Edition version without footnotes by copy and paste into the blog below) and the Practitioner Edition version with footnotes that can be downloaded here.

                   2.     Examples (Including Trump v. IRS).

          A prominent example of this remedy is a suit brought by a Kenneth Griffin, a hedge fund billionaire. An employee of a third party contractor to the IRS, Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., illegally accessed and disclosed the tax return information of Griffin and others to a news organization, ProPublica, which in turn published some of the tax return information. Griffin sued the IRS under (i) § 7431, alleging violation of § 6103, and (ii) the Privacy Act. The employee was prosecuted and pled guilty, receiving a five-year sentence. Griffin and the IRS settled the civil action resulting in a dismissal with prejudice. All of the terms of the settlement are not available, but apparently there was no monetary consideration and the IRS agreed to and did issue a public apology. Another reputed billionaire brought related action against the employee’s employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.

          A more prominent example arising from the same mass disclosures is a 2026 suit Donald J. Trump filed in his nominal personal capacity for $10 billion damages (asserting both the minimum $1,000 per disclosure with disclosures at $1,000 justifying $10 billion or actual damages of $10 billion) and for punitive damages in an amount not stated. The Plaintiffs included Trump’s sons and The Trump Organization, LLC. (referred to collectively as the Trump Plaintiffs). Before the DOJ filed an answer, the Judge asked the parties to brief whether, given President Trump’s control over the Government parties (IRS and DOJ) and personal interest as Plaintiff, the case met the required Article III case or controversy requirement. The Court also appointed amici to provide independent briefing on that issue. Before the parties presented their briefing but after the amici provided its initial brief, the Trump Plaintiffs moved to dismiss with prejudice under FRCP Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i) which requires dismissal with prejudice. On May 18, 2026, the Court dismissed with prejudice, noting: