A former consultant for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently pleaded guilty to leaking federal tax information about former President Donald Trump to the mainstream media between 2018 and 2020.
MORE: The Justice Department charged Charles Edward Littlejohn with stealing tax return information and giving it to two news outlets between 2018 and 2020. https://t.co/9OdFXSJ1ba
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) October 14, 2023
Charles Edward Littlejohn, 38, was recently charged with stealing tax information and providing it to two news outlets. He faces a maximum prison sentence of five years, with his sentencing date set to begin on Jan. 29, 2024, according to the Washington Examiner.
Prosecutors said that between August 2019 and October 2019, Littlejohn leaked Trump’s tax information through an IRS database and saved the data to several devices, including an iPod, before sending it off to two news outlets, as reported by Forbes. Littlejohn began doing the same for thousands of wealthy Americans a year later.
“The unauthorized theft and disclosure of tax return information by government employees or contractors is a serious breach of the public’s trust,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri said, as reported by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“The American people have every right to expect the utmost integrity from those who are granted access to sensitive taxpayer information through their employment with the IRS,” Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) Deputy Inspector General Trevor Nelson added.
The DOJ reported that Littlejohn was responsible for disclosing the tax returns of “thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals,” including that of a “high-ranking government official,” to two news outlets. Trump was not named in the complaint, but Littlejohn did admit in court of leaking the former president’s tax information.
Attorney General Merrick Garland commented on the matter, saying Littlejohn “betrayed the public’s trust” by leaking confidential tax information.
“By using his role as a government contractor to gain access to private tax information, steal that information, and disclose it publicly, Charles Littlejohn broke federal law and betrayed the public’s trust,” Garland said.
“In every case, the Department of Justice is committed to following the facts wherever they lead and holding accountable those who violate our laws,” Garland added.
The DOJ did not provide any specifications as to who the two news outlets were, but Fox News was told that they were the New York Times and ProPublica, a New York City-based nonprofit investigative organization.
