The House Judiciary Committee, in a social media post on Tuesday, accused former President Joe Biden’s administration of failing to reveal the true number of leaked tax returns on Americans, including President Donald Trump, to a pair of news organizations.
“New disclosure reveals that the Biden IRS leaked taxpayer information of over 405,000 Americans — including President Trump’s,” begins an X post from the House Judiciary Committee. “The IRS’s admission confirms the Committee’s suspicion and recent reports that show the scope of the leak was much broader than what the Biden Administration’s IRS initially led the public to believe.
“In May 2024, an IRS spokesman stated that ‘[m]ore than 70,000’ taxpayers were affected. We found out that it’s actually over 405,000 taxpayers! This is a MASSIVE scandal,” the tweet continued, adding that Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) initially launched an inquiry regarding the alleged leaks last year.
The X post also contained a screengrab of what appears to be a Judiciary Committee report noting the precise number of tax returns leaked by IRS contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn, adding that nearly 90 percent of the returns belonged to American businesses.
“Littlejohn pled guilty to the unauthorized disclosure of return information in October 2023 and was sentenced to five years in prison earlier this year,” the IRS said in a May 10, 2024 letter mailed to victims.
The letter added:
To begin with, it should be stressed that this incident was unacceptable. Any improper access or disclosure of confidential taxpayer information is unacceptable, and it is completely at odds with the IRS’s values and the agency’s commitment to taxpayers.
We recognize that this incident has created a difficult situation for many taxpayers, including individuals as well as business entities. We also recognize that it is incumbent on the IRS not only to protect confidential taxpayer information, but also to address matters to the fullest extent possible when any such information is unlawfully disclosed.
We write to you today to update you on our efforts in this regard, and to provide to you what information we can regarding this incident, within the confines of the law. We will update you periodically as additional information becomes available.
The IRS noted further that the criminal acts committed by Littlejohn occurred between 2018 and 2020. He illegally leaked taxpayer information to the left-wing news outlets ProPublica and The New York Times, per NPR. During his trial, federal prosecutors argued that the leaks appeared to be “unparalleled in the IRS’s history.”
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes imposed the maximum sentence, stating that the crime targeted the nation’s governmental system and democracy. “When you target the sitting president of the United States, you target the office,” she said during sentencing. “It can not be open season on our elected officials.”
Defense attorney Lisa Manning argued for a lighter sentence consistent with guidelines for someone without a prior criminal record. However, Reyes countered, NPR reported, insisting that the crime was extraordinary and that the sentence needed to “deter others who might feel compelled to break the law.”
Reyes questioned why Littlejohn was charged with only a single felony count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information, while also sentencing the former contractor to three years of supervised release and a $5,000 fine.
According to prosecutors in court documents, Littlejohn applied for a job at the contractor in order to obtain Trump’s tax returns and meticulously devised a method to search for and extract tax data without arousing internal suspicion, NPR noted.