The former IRS contractor who leaked Trump’s tax returns to the New York Times and ProPublica was sentenced to only 5 years in prison on Monday.
In September federal prosecutors charged a former IRS contractor who worked for the agency from 2018 to 2020 for unlawfully obtaining and disseminating the tax details of a high-ranking public official and numerous affluent Americans to media outlets.
According to court documents and an official press release from the Department of Justice, Charles Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, D.C., stole tax return information associated with a high-ranking government official, referred to as Public Official A – now known as Donald Trump. He then disclosed this information to a news organization identified as News Organization 1 – now known as The New York Times.
Littlejohn reportedly stole IRS information on thousands of wealthy people. The stolen information was then disseminated to two news outlets (New York Times and ProPublica).
“In July and August 2020, Littlejohn separately stole tax return information for thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals. Littlejohn was again able to evade IRS detection. In November 2020, Littlejohn disclosed this tax return information to News Organization 2, which published over 50 articles using the stolen data. Littlejohn then obstructed the forthcoming investigation into his conduct by deleting and destroying evidence of his disclosures.” the DOJ previously said.
The Biden DOJ asked US District Judge Ana C. Reyes, a Biden appointee, to sentence Littlejohn to only 60 months in prison even though he was responsible for the “biggest heist of IRS taxpayer data in history,” RealClearInvestigations reported.
Political leaders said Littlejohn should have been sentenced to 60 years, not 60 months, RCI said.
NBC News reported:
The former Internal Revenue Service contractor who leaked the tax records of former President Donald Trump to The New York Times as well as the tax records of billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk to ProPublica was sentenced Monday to five years in prison.
Charles Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October, and prosecutors sought the statutory maximum of five years in federal prison, saying that he “abused his position by unlawfully disclosing thousands of Americans’ federal tax returns and other private financial information to multiple news organizations.” Prosecutors said that Littlejohn “weaponized his access to unmasked taxpayer data to further his own personal, political agenda, believing that he was above the law.”
Littlejohn was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes at a hearing at the federal courthouse in Washington. He will also have to pay a $5,000 fine.
