An Eleventh Circuit panel has declined to suspend sanctions imposed in the dispute over President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. Its September 29 order is an interim ruling on emergency relief, not a final decision on the appeal.
The panel said the appeal was premature as to a Florida Bar referral for Trump lawyer Alejandro Brito because that referral was not a final order. It separately found that the appellants had not made the required strong showing that they were likely to overturn a narrow restriction on how they could describe or invoke the parties’ agreement in legal proceedings.
The lower court had found that the parties’ interests were not adverse and that the lawsuit and agreement were collusive. In denying a stay, the appeals panel said the appellants had offered no evidence to explain their conduct or rebut those findings at this stage. It also paused the district court’s ongoing fee proceedings while the appeal continues.
The panel’s order leaves the restrictions in effect for now. It does not resolve the full appeal or decide any pending request to reopen the underlying case.
Official Eleventh Circuit case docket system — No. 26-12692
