In a significant blow to the deep state, Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor currently serving a five-year sentence for leaking Donald Trump’s and thousands of other pieces of confidential information, has refused to testify before the House Judiciary Committee by invoking his Fifth Amendment right.
For context, Trump has faced an unprecedented number of major leaks as biased Democrats and those affected by TDS look for a way to strike back at the president. In his second term, Trump, along with members of his cabinet like Kristi Noem and Tom Homan, has taken a firm stand on the issue.
Explaining his decision, Littlejohn’s public defender wrote, “The testimony that you seek from Mr. Littlejohn directly implicates his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Mr. Littlejohn validly exercises that Constitutional right in declining to testify.”
At the time of his conviction in 2023, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, was “perplexed” and “troubled” by the decision to offer Littlejohn a generous plea deal. She added, “The fact that he is facing one felony count, I have no words for.”
Slamming the favorable treatment offered to the leaker, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), said that the sentencing “makes no sense” and “should be called the plea deal of the century,” highlighting how unusual the case was.
In a March 17, 2025, letter, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) requested that the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) provide all records related to Littlejohn’s prosecution. It accused the Biden administration of failing to provide “any substantive” background information.
Beginning his letter, Jordan wrote, “Since the 118th Congress, the Committee has been conducting oversight into the unprecedented leak of protected taxpayer information by your client, Charles E. Littlejohn. On January 29, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) allowed Mr. Littlejohn, a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contractor, to plead guilty to only one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax information for leaking “thousands of individuals’ and entities’ tax returns,” including President Trump’s tax information.”
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Explaining the importance of this case, the Republican added, “Since then, the Committee has obtained information showing that the scope of the leak is much broader than the Biden-Harris Administration led the public to believe—affecting over 400,000 taxpayers. In light of this new information, Mr. Littlejohn’s testimony is critical to the Committee’s oversight efforts and advancement of potential legislative reforms. We therefore respectfully request his testimony.”
Adding more context, he wrote, “Not only did Mr. Littlejohn succeed in obtaining and leaking President Trump’s returns, he also disclosed “thousands of Americans’ federal tax returns and other private financial information” to the New York Times and ProPublica, which together published more than 50 articles relying on the stolen information.”
Still not done, he said, “After Mr. Littlejohn’s sentencing, the IRS began notifying and assisting affected taxpayers. In May 2024, an IRS spokesman stated, ‘[m]ore than 70,000 people received the initial notice that their information was involved in the breach.'”
Describing the scope of the crime, Jordan wrote, “However, in December 2024, the IRS issued a second wave of notifications to additional taxpayer victims. On February 14, 2025, the IRS disclosed to the Committee that it had “mailed notifications to 405,427 taxpayers whose taxpayer information was inappropriately disclosed by Mr. Littlejohn” and that ’89 percent of the[se] taxpayers are business entities.'”
Concluding his remarks, he said, “In light of this new disclosure that Mr. Littlejohn leaked hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ information—not just ‘thousands’ as previously suggested—the Biden-Harris Administration’s decision to charge him with just one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax information is even more concerning.”
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