A federal judge has nullified a government settlement with Donald Trump and his sons concerning leaked tax returns, according to a report by The Guardian.
US District Judge Kathleen Williams, based in the Southern District of Florida, blocked the agreement that aimed to resolve a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Trump.
>>> Iran Rearrests Environmentalists Houman Jokar and Sepideh Kashani
The deal included a scrapped $1.8 billion fund and tax audit immunity for the Trump family.
Judge Williams issued sanctions against Trump's legal team, citing an abuse of the judicial system.
She determined that the lawsuit lacked a genuine legal controversy because Trump controlled the Treasury Department at the time of filing.
"The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the president and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law," Williams stated.
The judge emphasized that the legal action was initiated without a valid foundation in either fact or law.
"The court finds that this matter was brought for an improper purpose – to gain the imprimatur of judicial legitimacy for a ‘settlement’ that had no viable basis in law or fact," she added.
The court action prevents any involved party from referencing or using the nullified settlement agreement in future legal proceedings.
