Posted on 02/26/2025 8:22:53 AM PST by SeekAndFind
A new letter released by the House Judiciary Committee reveals that under the Biden administration, an IRS contractor leaked the tax information of 405,427 taxpayers to news sources — including that of President Donald Trump. Yet Americans are supposed to be concerned about DOGE?
For weeks Democrats have cried wolf over Elon Musk and DOGE supposedly plotting a “hostile takeover of the Treasury Department” and putting sensitive taxpayer information at risk. Democrats feigned outrage that DOGE would have “access to the management and disbursement of trillions of dollars and the highly sensitive information of millions of Americans.” They even held a press conference attacking DOGE for being granted read-only access to the Treasury Department’s payment system.
Unsurprisingly, the left-wing press has echoed these faux concerns.
“Elon Musk’s DOGE presence at the IRS raises concerns about taxpayer data security, refund delays,” CBS News’ Aimee Picchi wrote.
The Washington Post’s Jacob Bogage and Jeff Stein wrote that “Musk’s DOGE seeks access to personal taxpayer data, raising alarm at IRS.”
But for all the “concern” and “alarm” ringing going on, it seems Americans have more reason to be concerned with employees of the Treasury Department than a billionaire who legitimately doesn’t need or want taxpayer information.
According to a letter that Department of the Treasury Acting Commissioner Douglas W. O’Donnell sent to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan on Feb. 14, Charles Littlejohn “inappropriately accessed or leaked” the information of 405,427 taxpayers, 89 percent of whom are “business entities.”
Littlejohn had previously been charged in 2023 for allegedly disclosing tax return information to two news organizations that were not explicitly listed. This taxpayer information was leaked to ProPublica, which used the data “to report its ‘Secret IRS Files’ series,” according to ProPublica.
“The vast dataset contained details on thousands of wealthy Americans, and ProPublica reported dozens of stories based on an analysis of it,” ProPublica said. ProPublica’s Editor-in-Chief Stephen Engelberg denied knowing the identity of the source when charges were made public.
A second leak by Littlejohn that included information regarding a “high-ranking government official” “appears to match The New York Times’ reporting on the taxes of Donald Trump,” ProPublica reported.
But Musk and DOGE are the real concerns?
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes sentenced Littlejohn, 38, to five years in prison with three years supervised release and a $5,000 fine, multiple outlets reported—calling Littlejohn’s actions “an attack on our constitutional democracy.”
Littlejohn, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information last October after he admitted leaking the former president’s information to The New York Times and that of other wealthy Americans to ProPublica.
Littlejohn grew up in St. Louis and graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 2007 with a degree in economics, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
According to last September’s indictment, Littlejohn worked at a consulting firm—which was not named in the filing—“from in or about 2017 until in or about 2021” dealing primarily with contracts the firm obtained from the IRS.
Between 2018 and 2020, Littlejohn stole information from the IRS while working on a contract that included “returns and return information dating back more than 15 years,” according to the indictment.
CNN reported that Littlejohn, who must turn himself in by April 30, said he “acted out of a sincere misguided belief” and “aware of the potential consequences” when speaking to the court on Monday.
“I made my decision with the full knowledge that I would likely end up in a courtroom,” Littlejohn reportedly said.
:HAS to April 30 to DISAPPER.
:HAS to April 30 to DISAPPER.
No. It is even worse than that.
The Obama-Biden-Harris IRS SPECIFICALLY gave unrestricted IRS tax record access (names, addresses, tax payments, SSN, refunds and all Schedule and 1099 and W2 Forms to a group of 53 contractors, government employees, college interns, and (unnamed) private NGO “individuals” and programmers.
If this arsehole broke a law in leaking and is not being jailed, then DOGE is little more than the WHouse version of security that TSA pulls at airports daily.
I don’t see any perp walks. It has been a month. I’m losing faith in DOGE and DJTrump.
Between 2018 and 2020,
BTTT
Several years ago the Office of Personnel Management allowed the Chinese to hack their computers and obtain millions of people’s form SF 86 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY POSITIONS (including mine). Those are the forms people fill out for security clearances. They have ALL of your personal information. I’m not the least bit worried about DOGE.
https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf86.pdf
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/06/federal-data-hacking-worse/395807/
From X - Rep. Byron Donalds: “Democrats are flailing over Musk & DOGE gaining access to IRS data. But in 2023, Joe Biden gave 53 unpaid researchers & student volunteers access to the SAME SYSTEM & they said NOTHING. Democrats have no problem with waste, fraud, & abuse as long as their ideology is promoted.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.