Justice Dept. struggles to respond to Trump’s suit against I.R.S.

New York Times: Inside the Justice Department and the White House, senior officials are in the middle of a messy and complicated debate over their next steps, according to the people familiar with the deliberations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

While former Justice Department officials see clear flaws in the president’s case, some Trump administration officials worry that assigning a lawyer to contest it would pose an unworkable conflict, given that such a person ultimately works for the president, according to the two people. Defending the case could also contradict a White House executive order that binds all government lawyers to the president’s interpretation of the law…