Former IRS consultant Charles Littlejohn on Friday was charged with disclosing the tax returns of some of the nation's wealthiest individuals to the news media, including those of former President Donald Trump, according to Fox News.
Federal prosecutors said Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, D.C., disclosed the tax returns of "thousands of the nation's wealthiest individuals" to news organizations and tax information associated with a "high-ranking government official" to ProPublica.
He is charged with stealing the files while working as a government contractor, according to the report.
"Littlejohn is charged with one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison," the Department of Justice said in a news release.
Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, told The Wall Street Journal that IRS guardrails "failed to prevent this brazen breach of taxpayer rights."
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel wouldn't comment on pending legal issues.
"Any disclosure of taxpayer information is unacceptable," he said. "The IRS has put in place new protocols and protections that tightened security, and our aggressive work in this critical area continues in order to protect the tax and financial information of taxpayers."
The charges were filed as a criminal information instead of an indictment, which, according to Fox, typically means the defendant has entered a plea deal.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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