Charles Edward Littlejohn, a former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), pleaded guilty to unauthorized disclosure of tax returns on Thursday. Littlejohn, 38, was charged with stealing tax return information and providing it to two news outlets from 2018 to 2020. Sentencing is set for January 29th, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
“The unauthorized theft and disclosure of tax return information by government employees or contractors is a serious breach of the public’s trust,” commented Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri.
“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,” added Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) Deputy Inspector General Trevor Nelson.
In addition to Trump, whom the Justice Department did not name in their statement but is known to be Littlejohn’s main victim due to admissions he made to the court, the contractor “separately stole tax return information for thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals.”
show less