Charles Littlejohn, the man who leaked the tax returns of former US President Donald Trump and several other wealthy Americans, has been sentenced to five years behind bars.
The 38-year-old served as an advisor for the US tax service, which gave him access to documents in 2019 and 2020. The prosecution argued that Littlejohn went to considerable lengths to covertly steal the said documents. He disclosed the information to The New York Times and also to ProPublica, which published articles on the incomes of high-profile individuals, including Bill Gates, LeBron James, Taylor Swift and George Clooney.
The case judge, Ana Reyes, described Littlejohn’s offence as an attack on the US and its legal foundations. “Your actions of targeting the incumbent President of the United States are an assault on our constitutional democracy,” she observed. According to Reyes, this constituted the biggest robbery in tax service history.
Despite acknowledging the potential ramifications of his actions, Littlejohn said on Monday that he believed all Americans had the right to view the tax returns.
