US Politics
Trump team cancels contract for firm whose employee leaked the president’s tax return
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The Trump administration has announced the cancellation of all contracts with a consulting firm whose employee leaked details of the president’s tax return, causing its stock to tumble immediately.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent confirmed Monday that all 31 contracts between the department with Booz Allen Hamilton, totaling $4.8 million in annual spending and $21 million in total obligations, would be axed.
“President Trump has entrusted his cabinet to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and canceling these contracts is an essential step to increasing Americans’ trust in government,” Bessent said in a statement.
“Booz Allen failed to implement adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, including the confidential taxpayer information it had access to through its contracts with the Internal Revenue Service,” he added.
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Between 2018 and 2020, Charles Edward Littlejohn – an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton – “stole and leaked the confidential tax returns and return information of hundreds of thousands of taxpayers,” the department said.
He also leaked information on high profile individuals including Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, to media outlets including The New York Times and ProPublica.
To date, the IRS determined that the data breach affected approximately 406,000 taxpayers.
Littlejohn has since pleaded guilty to felony charges for disclosing confidential tax information without authorization and was sentenced to the maximum term of five years in prison in January 2024.
Following Bessent’s announcement the stock price of Booz Allen Hamilton fell by 10 points.
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In an online statement Monday responding to the announcement, Booz Allen Hamilton said, “We have consistently condemned in the strongest possible terms the actions of Charles Littlejohn, who was active with the company years ago.”
“Booz Allen has zero tolerance for violations of the law and operates under the highest ethical and professional guidelines. When Littlejohn’s criminal conduct occurred over 5 years ago, it was on government systems, not Booz Allen systems.”
The statement added: “Booz Allen stores no taxpayer data on its systems and has no ability to monitor activity on government networks.
“Booz Allen fully supported the U.S. government in its investigation, and the government expressed gratitude for our assistance, which led to Littlejohn’s prosecution. We look forward to discussing this matter with the Treasury.”
