Former President Donald Trump. Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian The former Internal Revenue Service contractor who leaked former P
The former Internal Revenue Service contractor who leaked former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to The New York Times was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday.
Charles Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October, and prosecutors sought the maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, claiming that he “abused his position by unlawfully disclosing thousands of Americans’ federal tax returns and other private financial information to multiple news organizations.”
According to the prosecution, Littlejohn “weaponized his access to unmasked taxpayer data to further his own personal, political agenda, believing that he was above the law.”
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U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes sentenced Littlejohn during the Washington federal court hearing. He will also pay a $5,000 fine.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott told Fox News on Sunday that he wants a left-wing activist punished to the fullest extent of the law for illegally releasing his tax returns, as well as those of former President Donald Trump and numerous other wealthy Americans.
Roll Call reported that prosecutors have claimed Littlejohn’s breach affected more than 1,000 Americans whose tax information was illegally made public.
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Scott claimed the number is actually more than 7,500. Instead of treating each case as an individual crime, the senator noted that he’s allowed to be punished for just one case.
“He intentionally took the job to release Trump’s tax returns,” Scott told host Shannon Bream on Sunday.
Scott expressed frustration that prosecutors did not go harder on Littlejohn.
“This is just an example of the Justice Department decides, ‘Oh, if you do something against Republicans, who cares. But if you do it against Democrats, that’s bad. But if you do it against Republicans, oh, we’ll give you a slap on the wrist,’” Scott said.
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