The IRS Apologizes Again
Charles Littlejohn worked as a contractor for the IRS. According to the U.S. Justice Department, between August and October 2019, Littlejohn accessed the tax return records of a high-ranking government official, presumably then-President Donald Trump. He offered the records to a news outlet. In July and August 2020 Littlejohn stole additional tax information for the nation’s wealthiest taxpayers. He evaded IRS protocols established to detect and prevent large downloads or uploads from IRS devices or systems. Littlejohn disclosed the tax information to ProPublica, which published more than 50 articles based upon the information beginning in June 2021.
There was a substantial uproar over the theft and disclosure of private taxpayer information, but for several years there was no explanation. Members of Congress repeatedly pressed the Treasury Secretary and IRS Commissioner for progress reports, to little avail.
Billionaire Ken Griffin was one of the taxpayers who found his private financial information being published by ProPublica. In December 2022, he filed a lawsuit against the IRS for its failure to adhere to the legal requirements of holding taxpayer information in strict confidence. His concern was not to collect monetary damages, but to get the IRS to live up to its legal responsibilities.
Finally, on September 23, 2023, three years after the crime spree, Littlejohn was charged for his actions. Despite the thousands of taxpayers potentially harmed, Littlejohn was charged with only a single count of unauthorized disclosure of tax information. The sentencing judge expressed surprise at the leniency, but sentenced Littlejohn to the maximum five years in federal prison.
With the criminal aspect of the case resolved, Griffin’s suit also was settled. He got an explicit apology, an acknowledgement of failure by the IRS: “The Internal Revenue Service sincerely apologizes to Mr. Kenneth Griffin and the thousands of other Americans whose personal information was leaked to the press. . . The IRS takes its responsibilities seriously and acknowledges that it failed to prevent Mr. Littlejohn’s criminal conduct and unlawful disclosure of Mr. Griffin’s confidential data. Accordingly, the IRS assures Mr. Griffin and the other victims of Mr. Littlejohn’s actions that it has made substantial investments in its data security to strengthen its safeguarding of taxpayer information.”
This IRS apology came more quickly than their apology for targeting conservative groups in 2012, as revealed by Lois Lerner. In that case, the apology was delayed until 2017.
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