In a remarkable turn of events, an ex-contractor for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been accused of leaking confidential tax information of the wealthiest individuals in the United States to media outlets. The Justice Department revealed that Charles Edward Littlejohn, a 38-year-old resident of Washington, DC, stole tax return data and shared it with two different news organizations between 2018 and 2020. The accused, Littlejohn, has not provided any comment so far. The Associated Press attempted to reach out to his attorney, Lisa Manning, but was unable to make contact. While the charging documents do not disclose the names of the outlets involved, the descriptions and timelines align with stories published by The New York Times regarding former President Donald Trump’s tax returns and by ProPublica on the tax records of affluent Americans. Interestingly, the reports covered tax information spanning over 15 years. The New York Times’ 2020 report unveiled that Trump only paid $750 in federal income tax during his first year in office and, at times, managed to evade income tax through substantial losses. The House Ways and Means Committee, which was under Democratic control at the time, later made public six years of his tax returns. The newspaper has been contacted for further comments. In 2021, ProPublica also released an investigation based on a treasure trove of tax-return data related to the wealthiest Americans. Alarmingly, this investigation uncovered that the 25 richest individuals in the country pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes compared to ordinary workers. ProPublica’s spokesperson declined to comment on the charges, highlighting that the reporters involved were unaware of the source’s identity. These revelations have ignited demands for reforms and calls for an investigation into the unauthorized release of tax information, which is legally protected. Littlejohn has been charged with one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information. If found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison. While the IRS has refrained from commenting on the specific case, Commissioner Danny Werfel has stressed that any disclosure of taxpayer information is absolutely unacceptable. In response to these breaches, the agency has implemented stricter security measures.
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