President Donald Trump is asking a federal appeals court to overturn sanctions arising from his settlement with the IRS and Treasury Department, as a new brief on the docket is drawing attention to an unusual punishment imposed on one of his personal attorneys.
Trump filed his latest response over U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’s order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit last week. His overarching dispute contends that the federal judge, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, overstepped her authority by reopening the case after the parties had dismissed it.
Williams’s order restricted future use of Trump’s settlement with the IRS in government proceedings, referred Trump attorney Alejandro Brito to the Florida Bar, and barred attorney Daniel Epstein for one year from seeking permission to represent clients in the Southern District of Florida — even though he was never actually admitted as counsel of record in the case.
America First Legal focused on Epstein’s punishment in an amicus brief filed on Wednesday. The group is supporting Trump and Epstein’s request to place the sanctions on hold while the appeal proceeds.
“What the court did in this case sets a dangerous precedent,” AFL President Gene Hamilton told the Washington Examiner. “Judges do not get to weaponize their authority against attorneys based on their views of the parties those attorneys represent.”
The dispute stems from Trump’s settlement with the IRS and Treasury Department. After the lawsuit was dismissed, 35 former federal judges asked Williams to reopen it and accused the parties of collusion.
Williams agreed to revisit the case. She found that the lawsuit was not a genuine dispute between opposing sides because Trump oversees the executive branch agencies he sued. She concluded the case had been brought in bad faith and imposed sanctions on Trump, his lawyers, and others involved.
But Epstein was never admitted to practice in Williams’s court and never became counsel of record. Instead, his name only appeared on the complaint with a note that he intended to seek temporary admission, but he never signed, filed, or submitted the document.
Williams also acknowledged as much that Epstein “could not” have signed the complaint because he was not admitted to practice before the court. Nevertheless, her decision to impose sanctions prompted AFL to accuse the judge of improperly using the court to police filings by attorneys not even before her bench.
AFL also contends Epstein never received personal notice that he faced a punishment limiting his ability to represent clients.
A spokesman for Trump’s legal team told the Washington Examiner the original lawsuit against the IRS was necessary after “a rogue, politically-motivated employee” leaked confidential tax information about Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization.
“President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable,” the spokesman said.
While Trump’s appeal challenges Williams’s sanctions as a whole, AFL’s brief places Epstein’s treatment at the center of the dispute.
“We are proud to stand with those targeted by this unprecedented order, and we will continue fighting to vindicate their rights and defend the rule of law,” Hamilton added in his statement.
Trump’s allies say it marked another example of judges and bar authorities using professional punishment against people surrounding the president instead of simply deciding the legal issues before them.
The recent sanctions against Epstein and others on Trump’s personal legal team coincided with separate disciplinary pressure on the Department of Homeland Security’s general counsel, James Percival.
On Wednesday, nearly 130 former federal and state judges filed a Florida Bar complaint against Percival over his social media criticism of judges who ruled against Trump administration immigration policies. Earlier this month, he created a thread on X naming what he describes as the “worst of the worst” list for judges, a move that drew the ire of the coalition of judges.
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In response to the complaint against him, Percival joked about creating a new award for former Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince, who led the complaint effort against him in the Sunshine State.
“I will be creating a new award. The award is called the Justice Peggy Quince Lifetime Achievement Award for Worst of the Worst Judging. I am now accepting nominees!” Percival posted on X.