Trump lawyers lose bid to halt sanctions in IRS lawsuit

A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday rejected a bid to pause sanctions imposed on two attorneys for President Donald Trump over their handling of his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. The three-judge panel in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that attorneys Alejandro Brito and Daniel Epstein failed to show they were likely to succeed in arguing that Miami U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams lacked sufficient basis for finding they acted in bad faith. The panel also said the appeal was premature, noting Williams has not made final decisions on reopening the case or attorneys' fees. Williams sanctioned the lawyers after finding the lawsuit was collusive, as Trump controlled the IRS as head of the executive branch. She referred Brito to the Florida Bar and barred Epstein from pro hac vice admissions for one year. The settlement in May briefly led to a $1.8 billion Justice Department "lawfare" fund that was abandoned after criticism.