OAN’s Elizabeth Bolbelding
2:40pm – Monday, January 29, 2024
Charles Littlejohn, who stole former President Donald Trump’s tax records and then released them to numerous left-wing media outlets, was sentenced to five years in prison.
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On Monday, Littlejohn, the former tax official who illegally leaked Trump’s personal tax records to media platforms, was sentenced to five years in prison. In addition, he will be released under his supervision for an additional three years and must pay a $5,000 fine for misconduct.
From 2008 to 2013, Littlejohn worked for Booz Allen, a consulting firm primarily handling IRS contracts for public and private clients. While there, he had access to “vast amounts of unconcealed taxpayer data.”
While employed as a contractor, Littlejohn stole tax information from President Trump and thousands of other wealthy and prominent public officials.
Personal tax returns of billionaires including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett and Peter Thiel have been released by left-wing news organizations propublica In June 2021.
Littlejohn, 38, pleaded guilty in October to one count of unlawful disclosure of income tax records.
The former tax official released personal information to at least two media outlets and had the records removed from a computer assigned to the IRS before being returned. He then erased the location where he originally stored the data and covered the rest of his digital footprint.
Prior to Littlejohn’s sentencing on Monday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes described his criminal conduct as “an attack on our constitutional democracy.”
“He targeted a sitting president of the United States, which is unusual by any stretch of the imagination,” Reyes said. “We can’t put our elected officials in open season.”
Reyes also reiterated the seriousness of the crime, comparing it to an attack on the United States and its legal system.
“This attack on the sitting President of the United States is an attack on our constitutional democracy,” Reyes added. “We’re talking about someone who pulled off the biggest heist in IRS history.”
Additionally, Reyes compared Littlejohn’s misdeeds to those of January 6th.thIn 2021, he invaded the U.S. Capitol and claimed his actions were “also a threat to our democracy.”
“It evokes the same fear as January 6th.”th We will,” Reyes added.
Prosecutors say Littlejohn took extreme measures to secretly obtain tax records. He did this by exploiting certain system flaws by downloading data onto an Apple iPad and uploading it to a private website that he later deleted.
Mr. Reyes also took issue with the Justice Department’s choice to prosecute Mr. Littlejohn alone.
“I have no words for the fact that he did what he did, and the fact that he is facing one felony charge,” the judge said. Prosecutors argued that this one charge covered Littlejohn’s numerous thefts and leaks.
“Freedom of the press and public engagement with the media are critical to a healthy democracy, but theft or leakage of personal tax information deprives individuals of legal protection for their most sensitive data. It will be.” Prosecutors wrote in court filings:.
Littlejohn admitted his crimes in a brief statement to the court and claimed he was mindful of the possible consequences at the time but was motivated by a “desire for transparency”.
Mr Littlejohn said in court on Monday: “I have made this decision knowing that I will likely have to go to court to answer for my serious crimes.” “I used my skills to systematically violate the privacy of thousands of people.”
Mr Littlejohn also said: “I acted out of a deeply false belief,” saying he was serving the country and the public had a right to know their tax information.
“We can make the best decisions as a country when we all have the right information,” Littlejohn added. “My actions undermine a fragile faith.”
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