Biden Justice Department Makes An Example Out Of IRS Whistleblower

Prosecutors urged a United States judge to punish a former IRS contractor, who leaked Trump's tax returns, as if he had been charged with an Espionage Act offense

Attorney General Merrick Garland of the U.S. Justice Department (Screen shot from the Justice Department.)

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In September 2020, after the New York Times published a report on President Donald Trump’s tax returns, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his campaign seized on the information disclosed by an IRS whistleblower.

CNN reported that Biden’s campaign “reacted swiftly” to the revelation that “Trump paid no federal income taxes in 10 out of 15 years beginning in 2000, turning around a digital video and putting out merchandise within hours of the report’s release.”

Biden’s campaign tweeted out the average amount of income taxes paid by teachers, firefighters, and nurses, which was much higher than what Trump paid annually. Campaign stickers were produced that said, “I paid more income taxes than Donald Trump.”

Given how Biden and his presidential campaign responded, one might think that Biden would have celebrated Charles Littlejohn, the IRS contractor who shared Trump’s tax returns. However, on September 29, 2023, the Justice Department (DOJ) charged Littlejohn with one count of “unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information.” 

Littlejohn took responsibility for his actions in October and pled guilty. Attorney General Merrick Garland put his stamp of approval on the outcome. “By using his role as a government contractor to gain access to private tax information, steal that information, and disclose it publicly, Charles Littlejohn broke federal law and betrayed the public’s trust.”

Yet a guilty plea was not enough for federal prosecutors. In January, the DOJ urged the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to sentence Littlejohn to five years in prison—the maximum possible sentence.

Read the full article at The Dissenter.