Obama-appointed judge defies Trump and reopens IRS lawsuit: investigates whether the settlement was designed to deceive the court

Federal Judge Kathleen M. Williams, based in Miami, took an unexpected turn Friday by reopening the $10.Billion that President Donald Trump had filed against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), after the president himself voluntarily withdrew it last week.

In a brief ruling, Williams stated that there are "grievous allegations" suggesting that the hasty agreement to close the case was "premised on deception."

The ruling represents a simultaneous setback for Trump and the current leadership of the Department of Justice, according to a report in The New York Times. Following the lawsuit's withdrawal, senior department officials had unveiled a settlement that established a $1.8 billion fund intended to compensate those who claimed to have been victims of the Democrats' so-called "weaponization" of the federal government. The settlement also provided significant tax benefits to Trump himself, his family and his businesses.

Williams' decision came after a bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges filed briefs with the court instating her to reopen the case and examine in detail the terms of the agreement. The judge, an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama, had previously expressed doubts about the original lawsuit, noting the paradox that President Trump was on both sides of the litigation, as he was suing a federal agency that, after returning to the White House, he himself has the ability to control it.

In her ruling Friday, Williams ordered Trump's lawyers to inform her by June 12 whether the case should be formally reopened because "the court was the victim of a fraud" and whether the president colluded with his own government to close the case to "avoid judicial scrutiny." The judge also cited a The New York Times investigation that revealed that the IRS had produced a 25-page memo with defense arguments against the lawsuit, documents that  the Justice Department never filed with the court.

Norman Eisen, an attorney who represented the group of former judges, welcomed the decision and noted that his constituents appreciate "the seriousness with which the court is addressing these grievous allegations.”