The Trump administration on Friday appealed a lower court's ruling that effectively found that President Donald Trump allegedly colluded with his own government in a $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

Trump sued the IRS over the leak of his tax returns by then-contractor Charles Littlejohn, who pleaded guilty. The Department of Justice settled with the IRS earlier this year, reaching an agreement to establish a now-terminated anti-weaponization fund.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams earlier this month heavily criticized the case and claimed the suit was brought for an "improper purpose" to secure funding for a project not approved by Congress.

“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,” she wrote.

The Justice Department did not comment on the ruling in its appeal, but filed a notice of appeal to the 11th Circuit that it will be challenging the judge's ruling, according to The Hill.

The judge also recommended sanctions for several of the attorneys involved in the case.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.