A 38-year-old man will serve five years in prison for stealing and leaking tax documents of former President Donald Trump and thousands of others.
In October, Charles Littlejohn, 38, pled guilty to one count of unauthorized disclosure of income tax records. According to his guilty deal, he took Trump's tax returns and the tax information of "thousands of the nation's wealthiest people" while working for a consulting firm with IRS contracts.
Littlejohn disclosed the information to two news outlets, removed the documents from his IRS-assigned laptop before returning it, and disguised his digital trails by removing locations where the information was originally saved.
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Judge Ana Reyes emphasized the gravity of the offense, stating several times that it constituted an attack on the United States and its legal foundation.
“What you did in attacking the sitting president of the United States was an attack on our constitutional democracy,” Reyes said. “We’re talking about someone who … pulled off the biggest heist in IRS history.”
The judge connected Littlejohn's activities to the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, stating, "Your actions were also a threat to our democracy."
"It evokes the same fear that January 6 does," Reyes continued.
Prosecutors claimed Littlejohn took tremendous measures to steal the tax documents unnoticed, exploiting system flaws, transferring data to an Apple iPod, and uploading it to a hidden website he later destroyed.
Reyes also criticized the Justice Department's choice to file only one count against Littlejohn.
"I have no words for the fact that he did what he did and he's facing one felony count," the prosecutor added. Prosecutors maintained that the one offense included all of Littlejohn's thefts and disclosures.
"A free press and public engagement with the media are critical to any healthy democracy, but stealing and leaking private, personal tax information strips individuals of the legal protection of their most sensitive data," prosecutors wrote in a court filing recommending Littlejohn be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
"I acted out of a sincere, misguided belief," Littlejohn said in court Monday, adding that he was helping the country.
