Man who leaked Trump tax records sentenced to 5 years in prison

Former Internal Revenue Service contractor Charles Littlejohn was sentenced on Monday for stealing and publicizing the tax records of then-sitting President Donald Trump. Federal District Judge Ana Reyes also saddled Littlejohn with three years of supervised release and a $5,000 fine. “He targeted the sitting president of the United States of America,” she said at the sentencing. “It cannot be open season on our elected officials.”

What did Littlejohn say in his defense? Littlejohn’s legal team alleged he leaked the files in an attempt to foster public transparency and spur reforms to the tax code. He told the court, “I acted out of a sincere, if misguided, belief that I was serving the public interest.” Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October to the one charge of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information brought against him by the Department of Justice. The 38-year-old ultimately leaked over 8,000 income tax returns relating to about 7,600 people.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Harvest Prude’s report on another IRS analyst charged for leaking high-profile tax records.