The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently revealed that the former IRS contractor who leaked President Donald Trump’s tax returns also leaked information regarding over 405,000 other taxpayers.
According to Fox Business, the IRS notified the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month that Charles Littlejohn, who is currently serving a five-year prison sentence after leaking Trump’s tax returns to The New York Times and ProPublica, also leaked information on over 405,000 other American taxpayers. The outlet noted that while the leak affected hundreds of thousands of taxpayers, Littlejohn previously pleaded guilty to only one count of disclosing tax return information without authorization.
Last February, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) launched an investigation into the Department of Justice’s “unusual and questionable leniency” into the “sweetheart deal” for Littlejohn following the leak of Trump’s tax return information.
In a letter to Nicole Argentieri, former acting assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Jordan said, “The Department’s decision to pursue just one charge for ‘thousands’ of separate criminal acts is highly concerning, and we worry that the Department’s decision may be politically motivated.”
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At the time Jordan wrote the letter to the Justice Department, the Republican chairman noted that the leak of Trump’s tax returns had also affected over 7,600 other American taxpayers. As a result, Jordan requested that information regarding the full scale of the tax return leaks be presented to the committee.
In a letter sent to Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month, the IRS stated, “Relying on data analysis by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and the IRS, the IRS mailed notifications to 405,427 taxpayers whose taxpayer information was inappropriately disclosed by Mr. Littlejohn.”
The IRS noted in its letter that roughly 89% of the taxpayers affected by Littlejohn’s actions were “business entities.” The department added that all of the taxpayers affected by the tax return leak have been notified regarding the incident.
According to Fox Business, Littlejohn was sentenced in January of 2024 to five years in prison. The former IRS contractor was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release and a fine of $5,000. During the prosecution of Littlejohn, federal prosecutors claimed that the IRS contractor pursued his position as a consultant of the IRS in order to leak the president’s tax returns, according to Fox Business.
