A former Internal Revenue Service contractor, who leaked tax information about Donald Trump and other wealthy individuals to news organizations, got his job to intentionally to spread the confidential records, according to Justice Department prosecutors.

Charles Edward Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, pleaded guilty in October to unauthorized disclosure of tax return and return information. U.S. District Judge Ana Reye scheduled sentencing for Jan. 29. Prosecutors recommended Tuesday he receive the maximum sentence of five years in prison.

“After applying to work as an IRS consultant with the intention of accessing and disclosing tax returns, Defendant weaponized his access to unmasked taxpayer data to further his own personal, political agenda, believing that he was above the law,” wrote prosecutors Corey Amundson, chief of the Justice Department’s public integrity section, Jennifer Clarke and Jonathan Jacobson.

  • Deceptichum@kbin.social
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    5 months ago

    Your legal system exists to protect itself and the ruling class, it is not just, it is indefensible.

    This person sacrificed themselves to bring to light one small part of the injustices you allow to perpetuate. They’re a hero, you’re a problem.

    • IHeartBadCode@kbin.social
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      5 months ago

      Your legal system exists to protect itself and the ruling class, it is indefensible

      Well the obvious question. What system would you have it replaced with?

      This person sacrificed themselves to bring to light one small part of the injustices you allow to perpetuate

      And this person has now also made it where everyone will ask, “if this person existed in the IRS, how do we know there are not more?” This is how distrust gets sown. This is how the IRS loses more funding. This is exactly how “ruling class” gets even less oversight. This is how these people, you want to go after, get away with it. This person didn’t solve anything, they made it worse.

      That person’s is absolutely heading to jail on the 29th. Where’s Trump at the moment? You think you got some sort of win?

      They’re a hero, your a problem

      They are going to jail and will likely never have the right to vote ever again in their life. I can still vote for a different world than the one we currently live in.

      So if you think this “solved” something, then you didn’t understand the problem. I’m just going to tell you, this kind of tit for tat stuff. We won’t survive it. Every hero ultimately turns into a Robespierre. We don’t solve this with a single person, we solve it together, otherwise we don’t solve it period.

      • Doug Holland@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Yes, you’ve identified the real crux of the issue. All Americans have great trust and respect for the IRS, and Mr Littlejohn’s actions might erode some fraction of some fraction of that undeserved trust and respect. Oh, the humanity.