WASHINGTON — A former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service was charged Friday with leaking tax info to information retailers about hundreds of the nation’s wealthiest individuals.
Charles Edward Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, D.C., is accused of stealing the tax return info and giving it to 2 information retailers between 2018 and 2020, the Justice Department mentioned in a press release. Littlejohn declined to remark when reached by The Associated Press, which additionally left a message for his legal professional, Lisa Manning.
Both organizations printed quite a few articles concerning the tax info, a few of which dated again greater than 15 years, charging paperwork state.
The retailers are usually not named in charging paperwork, however the description and timeframe align with tales about former President Donald Trump’s tax returns in The New York Times and reporting about rich Americans’ taxes within the nonprofit investigative journalism group ProPublica.
The 2020 New York Times report discovered Trump paid $750 in federal revenue tax the 12 months he entered the White House and no revenue tax in any respect some years due to colossal losses. Six years of his returns have been later launched by the then-Democratically managed House Ways and Means Committee.
The newspaper declined to remark.
ProPublica reported in 2021 on a trove of tax-return knowledge concerning the wealthiest Americans. It discovered the 25 richest individuals legally pay a smaller share of their revenue in taxes than many extraordinary staff do.
A spokesman for the outlet declined to touch upon the fees, including that ProPublica reporters have beforehand mentioned they don’t know the id of the supply. The tales sparked requires reform and for an investigation into the leak of tax info, which has particular authorized protections.
Littlejohn is charged with one depend of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return info. He faces as much as 5 years in jail if convicted.
The IRS declined to remark particularly on the case, however Commissioner Danny Werfel mentioned “any disclosure of taxpayer information is unacceptable” and the company has since tightened safety.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”