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Posted on 07/21/2026 3:44:39 AM PDT by DFG
A federal appeals court is affirming a five-year prison sentence for Charles Littlejohn, a consultant to the IRS who leaked President Trump’s tax return information to the New York Times and tax information about thousands of the richest Americans including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett to ProPublica.
The 16-page opinion by a three-judge panel—Justin Walker, Neomi Rao, and Judith Rogers—found that the sentence was reasonable. It offers a scathing narrative of Littlejohn’s behavior. At this writing, the decision hasn’t been reported in either the New York Times or ProPublica, which describes itself as "a nonprofit, investigative newsroom that exposes corruption."
"In 2017, Charles Littlejohn obtained a job as a consultant to the Internal Revenue Service so that he could steal and leak the tax returns of President Donald Trump," the opinion says. "Two years into his elaborate scheme, in 2019, Littlejohn gave President Trump’s tax return and return information to a reporter for the New York Times. He then helped the reporter analyze the data and leaked more tax returns and return information to supplement his original leak. Finally, just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, the New York Times began publishing articles based on what Littlejohn had stolen," the opinion says.
It continues, "he used his ‘skills to systematically violate the privacy of thousands of innocent people’ by stealing the tax returns and return information of about 600 entities and about 7,600 of the wealthiest Americans. He then leaked what he stole to ProPublica, which used data regarding at least 152 of his victims in about 50 articles," the opinion says. A company I owned was among those affected.
"As a result of Littlejohn’s crime, his victims lost business. They were disparaged countless times. And their families were physically threatened," the opinion says. "To this day, ProPublica is sitting on the private, as-yet unpublished data of other taxpayers stolen by Littlejohn. But those taxpayers continue to fear that ProPublica will publish their data in the future."
Littlejohn pleaded guilty in 2023 to one count of unlawfully disclosing tax information. Prosecutors asked for, and got, the maximum five-year prison sentence, a $5,000 fine, a $100 special assessment and three years of supervised release despite the guilty plea. That prompted Littlejohn’s appeal.
The appeals panel found, "his crime was politically motivated, at least in part because one of his motives was to change tax policy by (in Littlejohn’s words) showing ‘just how easy it was for the wealthiest among us to avoid paying into our system.’"
It also found, "his crime was an attack on a sitting president because he wanted to inform voters about (in his words) ‘the tax returns of the sitting president before they decided on how they were going to vote.’"
Additionally, the court ruled, "his crime was an attack on our constitutional democracy because his goal was to influence an election through illegal activity."
The opinion mentions that the district court judge, Ana Reyes, who issued the sentence mentioned the "ongoing harm to victims who did not know (and still do not know) when the next ProPublica article will drop, possibly hurting their businesses, harming their reputations, and jeopardizing their physical safety."
The opinion concludes, "Littlejohn’s sentence was procedurally reasonable. And it was substantively reasonable. So we affirm."
According to the Bureau of Prisons, Littlejohn, 41, is being held at the federal correctional institution in Marion, Ill. His scheduled release date is August 8, 2027.
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GOOD!
Just imagine if he had released Clinton foundation stuff. No trial would have been necessary. He got off easy.
“Littlejohn” has got to be the worst last name in human history.
When does Elon’s civil suit begin?
And Bezos?
And Buffet?
The Marion facility is no joke. He’s doing hard time.
L
He looks like the typical, self-hating, beta soyboy Dem male.
So he got about five hours of prison time and nearly a $1 fine for each file he stole.
That's just for the crime of stealing, failing to report, and publishing the tax information.
It was also election interference. Let them live the rest of their lives outside the country they so wished to deny the rights of.
Guy's got some nerve----raising money for his defense.
Can I have his stuff? He won’t be needing it!
All the background checks in the world will ever screen out a communist/college educated/American hating prick like this faggot. This clown probably never got a parking ticket and now he goes to one of the worst prisons in the country...Too funny.
I refer to the standard liberal mindset as “insufferable self righteousness.” He felt so very very virtuous doing what he did. It helps that there are rarely significant consequences for the crap libs pull based on this mindset, so his consequences may not dissuade others. Still I’ll take the ruination of his life as a good outcome
Why the hell are we hiring “consultants” for the IRS to begin with? They don’t have enough lemmings already?
He has a very punchable face.🙄
Yes, it has a reputation as a hardcore place. I, personally, do not think white collar criminals should be locked up with murderers and other violent criminals. They certainly deserve prison, but not with with the likes of the worst of the worst.
Evidently it was downgraded to a medium security prison 20 hears ago. I missed that news.
He worked as a criminal for the IRS. F him.
Solid, we need more accountability.
not enough time. 15 would be better.
he could be out in 3 as is - ??
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