Tax Byte

Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor, has pleaded guilty to leaking certain high-profile individuals’ tax returns to the media after conducting an illegal data crawl. Former President Trump’s tax return information was reportedly in the mix.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in an October 12 press release that Littlejohn (not to be confused with the could-be-debated rapper Lil Jon) while working at the IRS as a government contractor stole the tax returns of “a high-ranking government official.” Littlejohn accessed the tax returns on an IRS database after using broad search parameters designed to conceal the true purpose of his queries and saved the information to multiple personal storage devices, including an iPod, before leaking them to the media, according to the DOJ.

Additionally, Littlejohn separately stole and leaked the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals, reportedly including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Littlejohn pleaded guilty on October 12 to the unauthorized disclosure of tax return and returns information. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

“The unauthorized theft and disclosure of tax return information by government employees or contractors is a serious breach of the public’s trust,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

And was rapper Lil Jon’s “Get Low” or Dave Chappelle’s sketch A Moment in the Life of Lil Jon also on the iPod, you’re likely wondering? (You’re not.) We may never know.