Charles Littlejohn, the former IRS contractor serving a five-year prison sentence for leaking President Trump’s and thousands of others’ confidential tax records, has declined to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, invoking his Fifth Amendment right.
A public defender informed the committee that Littlejohn, who is appealing his sentence, was within his rights to avoid self-incrimination. The Republican-led panel is probing the 2023 plea deal Littlejohn struck with the Biden administration’s Justice Department, under which he pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized disclosure after admitting he accessed and leaked tax data belonging to Trump and other high-profile individuals, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes had criticized the plea deal during sentencing, expressing concern that only one charge was brought despite the scope of the breach. House Republicans have also raised objections to what they view as a lenient agreement.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has requested all records and communications related to Littlejohn’s prosecution. In a letter to the DOJ, Jordan said the IRS disclosed to his committee that over 405,000 taxpayers—89% of them business entities—were affected by the breach. Jordan questioned why, given the scope of the leak, the DOJ pursued only a single felony count.
