Charles E. Littlejohn

Charles Edward Littlejohn (born 1985) is a former American Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contractor who leaked tax records from Donald Trump and other wealthy individuals in what has been called the largest known data breach in IRS history.

Early life and education Littlejohn grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and attended Crossroads College Preparatory School. He majored in economics and physics at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he helped establish Nourish International and worked on a project evaluating peanut processing in Uganda. He moved to Washington, D.C. after graduating, where he started an online poker business and started working for Booz Allen as an IRS contractor. In 2012–2013, he temporarily relocated to St. Louis when his sister was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He later lived with his grandfather, a decorated World War II veteran in Delaware to care for him following a stroke. between around August and October 2019.

The story was released in a series of articles by The New York Times in September 2020. It revealed that Trump had paid only US$750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, and in some years paid no federal income tax due to losing more money than he made. Reporting showed no known connections with Russia, as had been previously speculated, however indicated "potential and often direct conflict of interest" between Trump's businesses and the office of the President of the United States. The data was used for a June 2021 series that revealed that many among the wealthiest Americans pay little or no taxes.

The number of taxpayer records Littlejohn is reported to have leaked has increased since first reported from 7,600 to 405,427. The first increase in reported records leaked was on April 26, 2024, when Morgan Lewis reported "more than "70,000 companies and individuals" were impacted. In May 2024, the IRS announced it was sending Letter 6613 to taxpayers who may have and their information disclosed by Littlejohn. The IRS saw no indication that Littlejohn had leaked the information "outside of the two news organizations". In its press release, the IRS did not indicate the number or detail of records leaked. In 2025, House Judiciary chair Jim Jordan announced that Littlejohn had compromised the tax records of 405,427 tax entities, "approximately 89%" of which were businesses, presumably linked to the 70,000 individual taxpayers reported earlier. Jordan's source, Douglas O’Donnell, the acting IRS commissioner, retired 3 days later.

Legal proceedings In October 2023, Littlejohn pleaded guilty to the unauthorized disclosures of income tax returns. Littlejohn said that he “acted out of a sincere, if misguided, belief” that he was serving the public interest and desired Americans to be informed. He also indicated that he acted with the expectation that he would face consequences.

Judge Ana C. Reyes compared his actions to the January 6 United States Capitol attack, saying that the leak represented "a threat to our democracy." Senator Rick Scott, whose data was leaked, said in testimony "every American is a victim here." In January 2024, Reyes sentenced Littlejohn to the maximum penalty of 5 years in prison on the charge of releasing the "information of Public Official A and thousands of other persons". Reyes had earlier questioned Department of Justice attorneys as to why Littlejohn was offered a plea deal for only a single felony count, despite leaking the information of thousands of taxpayers.

Tax attorney Reuven Avi-Yonah called the sentence "harsh," particularly compared to often lower penalties for tax evasion. He recommended that the sentence be reduced to the standard ten months, or commuted by Joe Biden. The Revolving Door Project and Patriotic Millionaires joined the call for presidential pardon. Littlejohn is currently assigned to the Federal Correctional Institution, Marion in Illinois with a release date of October 22, 2027. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld Littlejohn's sentence in July 2026, finding that the sentence was reasonable.

Billionaires Kelcy Warren and Kenneth C. Griffin filed lawsuits over disclosures of their tax information. Warren sued Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Littlejohn's former employer, and Griffin sued the IRS and the Treasury Department.

On January 29, 2026, Donald Trump filed a lawsuit as a private citizen against the IRS and the Treasury Department over the leak of his taxes, seeking $10 billion in damages. In addition, the Treasury Department cancelled all contracts with Booz Allen, despite the company's support in prosecuting Littlejohn.