An Internal Revenue Service consultant has been charged with disclosing a cache of tax return information without authorization. You can read about the charges here. The charges are not proven, but according to court documents, Charles Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, D.C., while working at the IRS as a government contractor, stole tax return information associated with a high-ranking government official (called “Public Official A”) and disclosed it to a news organization (here, called “News Organization 1”). The allegations say that Mr. Littlejohn also ‘stole’ tax return information for thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals, and disclosed this tax return information to another news organization (News Organization 2).
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. This case does not involve one taxpayer or even a manageable number of people. ProPublica received very large amounts of IRS data on numerous of the wealthiest U.S. taxpayers, covering more than a decade. There were specific income details, their tax liabilities and payments, and more specific data detailing their investments and audit results.
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