Trump appeals ruling in $10 billion IRS suit over scrapped fund
Why it matters: The dispute is entangling Todd Blanche's attorney general nomination and keeping scrutiny on a dropped $1.776 billion payout plan.
President Donald Trump appealed a federal judge's order that found his $10 billion lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns was filed in bad faith to secure an advantageous settlement. The notice, filed in federal court in Miami on Friday, asks the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review Judge Kathleen Williams' July 13 ruling. Williams wrote that the case was used to give judicial cover to a settlement lacking a viable legal or factual basis. That deal had tied dismissal of the lawsuit to creation of a $1.776 billion Justice Department fund for people claiming they were victims of government "lawfare," but the fund has since been scrapped. The fallout has also slowed Senate action on Todd Blanche's nomination as attorney general.