The sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building is seen. May 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)AP
WASHINGTON — An IRS contractor who leaked private taxpayer data appears to have stolen far more data than previously reported.
According to Politico, acting IRS commissioner Doug O’Donnell recently sent a letter to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) informing Jordan that the agency contacted 405,427 taxpayers regarding the stolen data. Last year, however, the IRS reported it was going to contact approximately 70,000 taxpayers about the stolen data.
The data was stolen and leaked by Charles Littlejohn, a former government contractor. Littlejohn initially stole tax information of a high-ranking government official in 2019 before stealing the information of thousands of wealthy taxpayers a year later. Littlejohn was convicted and sentenced last year to five years in prison.
President Donald Trump was among those whose tax information was leaked. The stolen information was used in a New York Times story about Trump’s tax returns.
In the letter, O’Donnell said that approximately nine of every 10 taxpayers contacted were actually businesses. He went on to say that there are a small number of taxpayers that still need to be contacted.
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