WASHINGTON — A top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee is requesting that administration officials disclose records of any federal agency coordination on a settlement agreement with the IRS that shields President Donald Trump and family members from federal tax audits.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) seeks copies of “all memoranda prepared by the IRS discussing defenses against” claims Trump and his sons made in their $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, according to a letter Whitehouse sent Wednesday to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and IRS CEO Frank Bisignano.

The letter follows reports of an IRS memo advising DOJ to move to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit, which stemmed from a data breach that led to news reporting detailing his and other wealthy Americans’ tax returns. The existence of such a memo “indicates that DOJ may have deliberately disregarded defenses readily available to the IRS in order to orchestrate” the settlement agreement, Whitehouse wrote in the letter.

Whitehouse is also asking DOJ to provide the names of all personnel involved in negotiations of the addendum to the settlement agreement that offers the president immunity from any probes into his past tax filings. Lawmakers, along with former tax enforcement officials and government watchdog groups, have questioned the legality of shielding Trump from federal tax investigations.

The letter asks that the federal agencies provide the requested documents by July 14 — the day before Blanche’s scheduled confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Representatives for DOJ, Treasury, and IRS didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Blanche, the former deputy attorney general who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, has faced a barrage of questions from Republicans and Democrats alike on Trump’s settlement agreement with the IRS, particularly over plans for the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to pay victims of alleged government weaponization in exchange for Trump dropping the IRS lawsuit.

The acting DOJ head said in a House committee hearing last month that DOJ would be dropping plans for the fund, but declined to commit to providing that assurance in writing. Blanche said at the time that DOJ would not be dropping the tax immunity addendum, claiming such language was standard practice as part of an IRS settlement. Blanche pushed back on claims from Democrats that it would give the president “blanket immunity.”

Blanche has been meeting with Republicans on Capitol Hill ahead of his hearing as lawmakers continue to seek assurances that DOJ won’t revive plans for the fund. The proposed fund attracted bipartisan concerns over the possibility that individuals charged with assaulting law enforcement and other crimes in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol would be eligible for payouts.

Whitehouse sent his letter the same day he joined Senate Judiciary ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and all other Democratic committee members in demanding Blanche’s response to dozens of requests made since the start of Trump’s second term, including for details on firings of career DOJ attorneys and the department’s handling of records related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“Given your tenure as the Deputy Attorney General, and now as Acting Attorney General, the Committee cannot properly assess your nomination without these responses, due to the fact that these issues reflect on your character and abilities as an attorney and public servant,” the Senate Democrats wrote in the letter.

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