Biography
Charles Edward Littlejohn is a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contractor who was sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to the unauthorized disclosure of confidential tax return information. Between 2019 and 2020, Littlejohn accessed IRS databases while working as a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton and leaked tax records to major news outlets including The New York Times and ProPublica. The disclosures enabled landmark reporting that exposed how some of the wealthiest Americans — including billionaires and former President Donald Trump — paid little or no federal income tax despite massive increases in wealth.
Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and was sentenced in January 2025 to the statutory maximum of five years in prison. His case has sparked widespread debate over whistleblowing, public-interest journalism, and the government’s response to disclosures that reveal systemic inequality in the U.S. tax system.
