Trump drops $10bn lawsuit against IRS in exchange for a settlement fund

Trump drops $10bn lawsuit against IRS in exchange for a settlement fund8 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleBernd Debusmann Jrat the White House Getty ImagesDemocrats have accused Trump of working to set up a 'slush fund' for political alliesUS President Donald Trump has dropped a $10bn (£7.4bn) lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns, in exchange for his administration creating a $1.7bn fund to compensate people alleging they were unfairly investigated.Trump sued the Internal Revenue Service in January, alleging the agency failed to stop a former contractor from leaking his tax returns to media during his first term.The move comes two days before a 20 May court deadline for both sides to address whether a legitimate legal dispute existed - given that Trump now oversees the IRS through his administration.Democrats have criticised the settlement as an unconstitutional "slush fund" for Trump and his allies. On Monday, a spokesman for Trump's legal team said that the president is "entering into this settlement squarely for the benefit of the American people". "He will continue his fight to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable," the spokesman added. Legal experts, who were asked last week to weigh in on the matter by the judge overseeing the case, called Trump's lawsuit "unprecedented"."This case is unprecedented: A sitting president seeks monetary damages for alleged harm to his personal interests from an executive agency that he controls," the experts wrote.The experts cited Trump's own statements that he controls both the IRS and the DOJ lawyers handling the case.Shortly after the dismissal was filed by Trump's legal team, the justice department announced an agreement to establish an "anti-weaponisation fund" that will provide a "systematic process to hear and redress claims of those who suffered under weaponisation and lawfare&...