Federal prosecutors have filed charges against Charles Littlejohn, an IRS contractor, accusing him of leaking confidential tax information belonging to a prominent government official and thousands of wealthy Americans to the media. The court documents do not disclose the identity of the public official or the news outlets involved. However, the IRS had been actively investigating the leak of former President Donald Trump’s tax information to The New York Times, as well as the disclosure of a significant amount of IRS data on affluent individuals to ProPublica.
Littlejohn has been charged with one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax information. The criminal information, similar to an indictment, initiates the criminal prosecution. According to the court documents, Littlejohn worked at a consulting company from 2017 to 2021, where he had access to IRS tax returns. Prosecutors allege that between 2018 and 2020, while working on an IRS contract, Littlejohn stole tax returns and associated information of the government official and thousands of wealthy individuals, some dating back over 15 years. He then disclosed the tax information of the government official to News Organization 1 and the remaining information to News Organization 2. Both news organizations published numerous articles based on the information provided by Littlejohn.
The document states that the disclosures occurred in West Virginia and other unspecified locations. No legal representation for Littlejohn has been listed in the court documents. The Justice Department identifies Littlejohn as a resident of the District of Columbia. ProPublica referred to the leaked files it obtained as containing 15 years’ worth of data on “thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people.” The report, titled “the secret IRS files,” aimed to expose how the wealthiest individuals avoid paying income tax.
