IRS contractor charged with leaking tax return information of wealthy people

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service has been charged with leaking tax information to news outlets about a government official and thousands of the country’s wealthiest people. The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that 38-year-old Charles Edward Littlejohn of Washington, D.C., is accused of stealing  tax return information and giving it to two different news outlets between 2018 and 2020. The charges state both unnamed organizations published numerous articles describing the tax information, some of it dating back over 15 years. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns.