Posted on 09/29/2023 5:16:53 PM PDT by grundle
A former contractor who worked with the Internal Revenue Service until 2021 was accused of disclosing tax return information of a high-ranking government official and "thousands of the nation's wealthiest people" without authorization, according to criminal information filed Friday in Washington, D.C.
Although the court documents do not reveal the name of the government official, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News that it is former President Donald Trump.
Charles Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, D.C., allegedly obtained Trump's tax return information and gave it to a news organization, the court documents said. He has been accused of one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information, and if he's convicted, he could face a maximum five years in prison.
The government also alleges that Littlejohn took tax return information belonging to thousands of the richest people in the country and disclosed it to a different news organization.
Prosecutors said the news organizations — which the person familiar with the matter confirmed were The New York Times and Pro Publica — published "numerous articles" based on the information obtained from Littlejohn, according to the court documents.
An attorney for Littlejohn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Trump has also not yet responded to a request for comment.
The New York Times and Pro Publica have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Pro Publica said in a statement to CBS News, "We have no comment on today's announcement from the DOJ. As we've said previously, ProPublica doesn't know the identity of the source who provided this trove of information on the taxes paid by the wealthiest Americans."
The New York Times declined to comment. But when the Times published its extensive reporting on Trump's tax returns in September 2020, then-editor Dean Baquet wrote, "Some will raise questions about publishing the president's personal tax information. But the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the First Amendment allows the press to publish newsworthy information that was legally obtained by reporters even when those in power fight to keep it hidden. That powerful principle of the First Amendment applies here."
I’d sue the F outta him to the point where he would never be able to own, even a can of Coca Cola!!!
No good bigoted traitorous scumbag anti capitalist!!
If Littlejohn is guilty, he should spend a decade in prison, at least. Why did he think he could do this?
Why are contractors given access to taxpayers returns ???
The last three big FedGov intentional data spills were all done by contractors.
I'd be willing to bet that many of the so-called data hacks (SSN's, etc.) that have happened to Fedzilla have been inside jobs. The American taxpayer is under attack in many ways.
JUST SO!
FAIRtax scraps the code!
Help us do that!
Go to https://www.fairtax.org or https://www.bigsolution.org to find out how to help us replace the income tax with the FAIRtax and ABOLISH THE IRS!
We will NEVER be a FRee country so long as we have a Marxist inspired progressive income tax and an IRS!
If they did not know the identity of the individual, how could they publish the information and have any assurance it was true or accurate?
Typical NYT posturing and misstatement to justify their amoral use of illegally obtained documents. Federal law prohibits public access to individual U.S. tax returns. Nobody has to fight to keep it hidden.
I smell a major Law Suit coming😡 after one bean counter🥸.
Is this related?
~~~
” Smith: Prosecution of IRS Leaker Comes After Years of Republican Calls for Investigation, Will IRS Explain What Happened and How They Will Fix It? “
September 29, 2023 - Press Release J.P. Freire
Tim Foster
Tate O’Connor
Dylan Chandler
(202) 225-3625
Washington, D.C. - An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) consultant was finally charged today for leaking confidential tax material belonging to former President Donald Trump and thousands of other individuals beginning in 2018. The unauthorized disclosure raises concerns about targeted political leaks by the IRS geared towards supporting Democrats’ effort to supercharge the agency and weaponize tax information against political enemies. Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement:
“Today’s news is the result of years of House Republican demands for an investigation and eventual prosecution on the largest breach of confidential tax information in American history. The American people deserve to know the facts about this breach of trust, and TIGTA, IRS, and Treasury must explain to the American people what happened and what is being done to make sure it never happens again.”
” Rather than join Republicans in condemning these leaks, including the September 2020 release of President Trump’s returns designed to impact an election, Democrats celebrated them, with the Biden campaign making inaccurate claims about how the former President did his taxes. Committee Democrats even held a hearing – not to learn more about the breach, but to attack the President.
“Such a serious felony crime should not have taken five years to investigate, and yet President Biden and Democrats rewarded the agency with $80 billion in new funding instead of demanding answers. A recent GAO report illustrates that the IRS has repeatedly squandered the public’s trust by failing to protect taxpayer privacy and in some cases willfully ignoring recommendations rather than shoring up the vulnerabilities that put taxpayers at risk. Not a single dollar in additional funding should go to the IRS until it explains to the American people how this happened and what it will do to prevent more political leaks in the future.”
ead: Government Watchdog Says IRS Needs to Address Critical Safeguard
Weaknesses
Read: ICYMI: Ways and Means Democrats Ignore Potentially Criminal Leak of
President’s Taxes in Largely Partisan Hearing on “Taxpayer Fairness”
Background: Politicized Leaks Have Been Rampant at the IRS
June 2021: In response to the leak of confidential taxpayer information published by ProPublica that appeared to come from inside the IRS, Republican tax writers called for transparency and an investigation. Then Republican leader of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, Rep. Mike Kelly, demanded answers on the breach as well. September 2020: After President Trump’s confidential tax information was leaked to the New York Times, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee raised concerns about the breach. Flashback: ProPublica previously received (and published) leaked taxpayer information from the IRS in 2012 that just so happened to include critics of the Democrat...
It’s obvious that President Trump has nothing in his Tax Returns that would cause him to be concerned...as I would, with the exposure of my tax return.
GEt it?
HOWEVER, I had a parttime job at IRS and we were told not to read any of the returns. Turns out...only those of us who have some bit of integrity and common sense never did anything to cause a breach in that, personal and vital information.
WHAT KIND OF A LUNATIC IS THIS CONTRACT PERSON. SPIT.
I bet he gets a cable tv show.
I would think that Trump can sue The New York Times and Pro Publica for revealing information from stolen information.
In a sane world this would be a criminal act with civil actions as a by product to the guilty verdict of possessing and distributing stolen goods.
IRS has had them over a decade.
Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the First Amendment allows the press to publish newsworthy information that was legally obtained by reporters.
*****************************
Unless it’s the Biden Syndicate no peek no tell.
I’m very tired of the abuse that the income tax allows the feds to inflict.
This is the best reason I can think of to replace the income tax with the FAIRtax!
We need to push the FAIRtax!
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