Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies hearing on the fiscal year 2027 budget request for the Department of Justice on Tuesday. Blanche was also questioned about a memo he signed granting the Trump family immunity from the IRS. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
May 20 (UPI) -- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order stating that the IRS is now "forever barred" from auditing the taxes of President Donald Trump, his family or his businesses.
The memo issued Tuesday said the agency "releases, waives, acquits" its pending action and is "forever barred and precluded" from making claims against the president, The Hill reported. The memo also protects them from any tax issues in the past.
The memo was inserted as a supplement to a deal that created a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund to benefit Trump allies. That was after Trump and the Department of Justice voluntarily dismissed a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS for leaking the president's tax returns.
"As is customary in settlements, both sides have executed waivers of a variety of claims that were or could have been brought. There would be little point in settling several significant claims if either party could simply turn around and seek to [initiate] more adverse claims that could have been pursued previously," a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement. "This is only with respect to existing audits, not future."
