• Trump sues IRS and Treasury for $10 billion over leaked tax returns.
• Claims the agencies failed to protect his personal tax information from being leaked.
• Accuses former IRS contractor of leaking the data to media outlets.
• Suit filed in Miami, includes Trump's sons and the Trump Organization.
• Alleges significant reputational and financial harm as a result of the leaks.

U.S. President Donald Trump has initiated a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department, seeking at least $10 billion in damages for the unauthorized disclosure of his tax information to the media. The suit, filed in Miami federal court, also includes his two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization as plaintiffs. The complaint alleges that the leak of confidential tax records between 2018 and 2020 resulted in severe reputational and financial harm, as well as public embarrassment for the Trump family, which they claim has negatively affected their standing in the public eye, according to Reuters and CBS News.

The core of Trump's lawsuit stems from the actions of former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn, who was convicted for leaking Trump's tax data to The New York Times and ProPublica. The documents reportedly revealed that Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes during his first year in office, and none in ten of the previous fifteen years. Trump's legal team claims the IRS and Treasury had an obligation to safeguard this sensitive information, which they failed to do, leading to unprecedented disclosures that violate IRS confidentiality laws, as stated in BBC and NPR.

Littlejohn, who worked for the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, was sentenced to five years in prison for his actions, which prosecutors characterized as "unparalleled in the IRS's history". Trump's lawsuit accuses the IRS and Treasury of negligence, asserting that they allowed a "rogue, politically-motivated employee" to leak private financial information. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that Booz Allen Hamilton failed to implement necessary safeguards to protect sensitive data, leading to the breach, according to India Times and South China Morning Post.

The lawsuit's assertions include that the leaks helped shape public perception against Trump in the context of the 2020 presidential election, suggesting that they played a role in his electoral defeat. Additionally, Trump's legal maneuvers come amidst a series of lawsuits targeting various entities, with total damages sought exceeding $50 billion across his lawsuits against banks and media outlets, highlighting a broader pattern of legal challenges he's facing post-presidency, as reported by BBC and NPR.