John Anthony Castro

He is known as the most prolific[2][3] advocate for disqualifying Donald Trump from the 2024 U.S. presidential election under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and for his involvement in Dixon v Commissioner and its related cases.

[13][9][14][15][16][17] In 2013, shortly after completing his LLM, Castro briefly worked for Gudorf Law Group of Dayton, Ohio, before suing the firm for allegedly defaming him.

[12] Upon receiving the revised returns Castro prepared, the IRS initiated an audit of Dixon, assessed penalties against him, and seized his refund.

[27][28] According to Justia's summary of the case:[29] During the litigation, it became clear that Dixon had not personally signed his name on the 2017 amended returns—the tax preparer [Castro] had signed Dixon’s name—and no authorizing power-of-attorney documentation accompanied the amended returns.Because federal law prevents a taxpayer from suing for a refund without having previously submitted a “duly filed” claim to the IRS, and the 2017 amended returns were not “duly filed” due to the lack of a proper signature, Dixon's case against the U.S. Government was dismissed leaving him, according to the Australian Financial Review, with "nought, aside from penalties and legal fees".

[19] Castro denied any wrongdoing and explained that he had already taken responsibility for what he said were past instances in which he'd misinterpreted the tax code and had thus far paid back $700,000 to the United States.

[2][33][35] At trial, Castro's attorneys argued that his application of the tax code involved "aggressive" and "unconventional" legal positions but did not rise to the level of "willful violations of the law".

[43][9][44] Castro ultimately filed dozens of unsuccessful federal lawsuits in courts across the country seeking to have Trump disqualified and became, according to the New York Times and NPR, the "most prolific" advocate for disqualification.

[53][54][55] In 2022, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader, Castro claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) attempted to plant listening devices in his automobile on orders of Donald Trump.

[10] The following year, Castro sued Trump for $180 million, alleging that the former president was engaged in a conspiracy with the IRS and CIA to “monitor, surveil, and harass” him.

[26][56] He added several others to the lawsuit, including IRS criminal investigators, attorneys, a senior CIA official, staff of the Pine Gap satellite surveillance base, and a John Doe defendant, all of whom he alleged conspired with Donald Trump to harass him.