上诉法院周二支持了地区法官的裁定。该法官认定，特朗普总统与司法部（DOJ）串通提起并随后撤销了一宗要求美国国税局（IRS）赔偿100亿美元的案件。
An appeals court Tuesday sided with a lower court judge who determined President Trump colluded with the Justice Department (DOJ) in bringing and later dismissing a case seeking $10 billion in damages from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
佛罗里达州联邦地区法官凯瑟琳·威廉姆斯今年7月认定，这起充当17.76亿美元“反武器化”基金抓手的诉讼构成串通，因为双方从来并非真正的对立双方。她还在这一过程中对两名特朗普律师作出了制裁。
Florida-based U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in July found that the lawsuit that served as the hook for the $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund amounted to collusion as the two parties were never truly averse. She also sanctioned two Trump attorneys in the process.
特朗普总统今年1月因自己的纳税申报信息遭泄露而起诉自己的政府，随后于5月下旬与国税局达成协议，撤销了这起案件。司法部此后设立了一项“反武器化”基金，向那些声称遭到政府不当对待的人支付款项。
The president, who sued his own administration in January over the leak of his tax returns, struck an agreement with the IRS in late May to dismiss the case, with the DOJ then creating an “anti-weaponization” fund to provide payments to those who claim to have been wronged by the government.
“上诉人没有提交或提供任何证据，以解释其诉讼行为，或证明该诉讼和和解协议并非串通一致。鉴于我们面前的记录，上诉人未能有力证明地区法院关于串通和恶意的认定存在明显错误，”第11巡回上诉法院三人合议庭在裁决意见中写道。
“The appellants did not submit or offer any evidence to explain their litigation conduct or demonstrate that the lawsuit and the settlement were not collusive. Given the record before us, the appellants have not made a strong showing that the district court committed clear error in its collusion and bad faith findings,” a three-judge panel for the 11th Circuit wrote in its opinion.
威廉姆斯的裁定尤其批评了特朗普，指出他是在信息泄露多年后才提起诉讼，当时他已经重返办公室，并有权解雇所有人。“总之，本院面前的事实表明，双方之间从未存在敌对关系；从未存在案件或争议；也从未存在谁将胜诉的问题，”法官在这份56页的裁定文件中写道。
Williams’ ruling was particularly critical of Trump, noting that he filed the suit years after the leak, when he had returned to office and had the power to fire everyone“In sum, the facts before this Court demonstrate there was never adverseness between the Parties; there was never a case or controversy; and there was never a question as to who would prevail,” the judge wrote in the 56-page filing.
“本院认定，原告不当利用这场诉讼，为谋取特定利益提供正当化依据——动用纳税人资金以及免受审计和其他调查——而原告通过控制被告实现了这些目的，”她后来在文书中写道，并补充说，这场诉讼是“为操纵司法程序而提起的”；她当时还表示。
“The Court determines that Plaintiffs improperly employed this lawsuit to justify a particular award in this matter — access to taxpayer funds and exemption from audits and other investigations — which was accomplished by leveraging control over Defendants,” she wrote later, adding that the suit was “brought to manipulate the judicial process,” she added at the time.
威廉姆斯认定，特朗普针对美国国税局提起的100亿美元诉讼“出于不当目的提起，旨在为一项在法律或事实上都缺乏可行基础的‘和解’取得司法合法性的背书”。这位由前总统奥巴马任命的法官已禁止特朗普政府将围绕该案的诉讼表述为已经达成和解。此类事项通常必须经法官批准，而司法部却在法院程序之外设立了一个现已停止运作的赔偿基金。
Williams found that Trump’s $10 billion case against the IRS was “brought for an improper purpose — to gain the imprimatur of judicial legitimacy for a ‘settlement’ that had no viable basis in law or fact.”The judge, who was appointed by former President Obama, has prohibited the Trump administration from referring to the litigation around the case as reaching a settlement. Such matters must often be approved before a judge, and the DOJ created the now-defunct compensation fund outside of the court process.
上诉法院写道：“上诉人未能说服我们对该制裁作出更宽泛的解释，也未有力证明他们将在第一修正案挑战中胜诉。他们没有援引任何权威依据表明，作为对经认定应受制裁行为的处罚而实施的言论相关禁令违反第一修正案。”联邦法院还支持威廉姆斯对两名律师作出的制裁，并指出这样做属于她的权限之内。
“The appellants have not persuaded us to construe the sanction more broadly and have not made a strong showing that they will prevail on their First Amendment challenges,” the appeals court wrote. “They do not cite any authorities suggesting that a speech-related prohibition imposed as a penalty for conduct determined to be sanctionable violates the First Amendment.”The federal court also sided with Williams on the sanctions for the two attorneys, noting it was within her power to do so.