Charles E. Littlejohn

Charles Edward Littlejohn (born 1985) is a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contractor who leaked tax records from Donald Trump and other wealthy individuals in what has been called the largest known data breach in IRS history.[1]

Early life and education

Littlejohn grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and attended Crossroads College Preparatory School. He majored in economics and physics at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he helped establish Nourish International and worked on a project evaluating peanut processing in Uganda. He moved to Washington, D.C. after graduating, where he started an online poker business and started working for Booz Allen as an IRS contractor. In 2012-2013, he temporarily relocated to St. Louis when his sister was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He later lived with his grandfather, a decorated World War II veteran[2] in Delaware to care for him following a stroke.[3]

Leaks

Littlejohn was rehired as an IRS contractor in 2017.[3] The first leak of IRS data targeted 15 years of Donald Trump's tax returns, which he shared with The New York Times (initially identified as "News Organization 1" in the criminal complaint[4]) between around August and October 2019.[5][6]

The story was released in a series of articles by The New York Times in September 2020. It revealed that Trump had paid only $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, and in most years paid no federal income tax due to losing more money than he made.[7] Reporting showed no new known connections with Russia, as had been previously speculated, however indicated "potential and often direct conflict of interest" between Trump's businesses and the office of the President of the United States.[3]

Littlejohn next targeted 15 years of tax records belonging to approximately 7,600 of the highest net worth individuals in the United States. He chose to share the data with ProPublica due to previous reporting in 2018 on inequity of IRS scrutiny. The news agency released a series utilizing the data in June 2021.[3][8] It was later revealed that he compromised the tax records of 405,000 individuals.[9]

In October 2023, Littlejohn pleaded guilty to the unauthorized disclosures of income tax returns. Littlejohn said that he acted from "a sincere misguided belief" and desired Americans to be informed. He also indicated that he acted with expectation that he would face consequences.[10]

Judge Ana C. Reyes compared his actions to the January 6 United States Capitol attack, saying that the leak represented "a threat to our democracy." Senator Rick Scott, whose data was leaked, said in testimony "every American is a victim here." In January 2025, Reyes sentenced Littlejohn to the maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.[10]

Billionaires Kelcy Warren and Kenneth C. Griffin have filed lawsuits over disclosures of their tax information against Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. (Littlejohn's former employer), in Warren's case, and the IRS and the Treasury Department, in Griffin's.[11]

References

  1. ^ Spencer, Kevin; Viviano, Joseph (24 April 2024). "Protect Yourself: Action Steps Following the Largest-Ever IRS Data Breach". The National Law Review. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  2. ^ https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2024/10/21/man-who-leaked-trumps-tax-returns-was-taught-to-take-a-stand-in-st-louis/151916/
  3. ^ a b c d Phillips, Nicholas (21 October 2024). "The St. Louis native who leaked Trump's tax returns". STL Mag.
  4. ^ The editorial board (30 May 2024). "ProPublica's 'Massive Trove' From the IRS". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  5. ^ "United States v. Charles E. Littlejohn". United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  6. ^ Legare, Robert (January 29, 2024). "Ex-IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn, who admitted leaking Trump's tax records, sentenced to 5 years in prison". CBS.
  7. ^ Buettner, Russ; Craig, Susanne; McIntire, Mike (27 September 2020). "Trump's Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Ernsthausen, Jeff; Kiel, Paul; Eisinger, Jesse (7 December 2021). "These Real Estate and Oil Tycoons Avoided Paying Taxes for Years". ProPublica.
  9. ^ Fox Business, "Former IRS contractor who leaked Trump tax returns also spilled info on 405K others", 26 Feb 2025
  10. ^ a b Lybrand, Holmes (2024-01-29). "Charles Littlejohn: Man who stole and leaked Trump tax records sentenced to 5 years in prison | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  11. ^ Shaw, Tim (7 May 2024). "Second Billionaire Sues Over IRS Data Leak". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.