Staff Reports
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith made a bold statement urging a federal judge to hand down a harsh sentence to Charles Edward Littlejohn, an IRS consultant who leaked the tax returns of former President Donald Trump and numerous other private citizens. Smith believes that a lenient sentence would only encourage similar crimes in the future. In his statement to Breitbart, the Missouri Republican emphasized the importance of sending a strong message to potential criminals.
Republicans Demand 'Maximum Penalty' for Anti-Trumper Who Infiltrated IRS pic.twitter.com/eHcOP9K3Qn
— joe t (@jtinaglia) January 25, 2024
According to Smith, Littlejohn spent years executing a plan to gain a position with the IRS in order to expose the private information of Americans and further his own political agenda. The congressman hopes that the court will impose a sentence that reflects the severity of Littlejohn’s actions.
Joining forces with 24 other Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, Smith sent a letter to Judge Ana Reyes, urging her to impose the maximum penalty of five years in jail for Littlejohn’s crime. They expressed their concerns about the Department of Justice’s decision to charge Littlejohn with only one count of illegal disclosure of private tax information, despite his admission of committing two such violations and obstructing a federal investigation.
The Republicans argue that Littlejohn’s admission to stealing and disclosing private tax information related to former President Trump, as well as thousands of other individuals, warrants additional charges. They call upon the judge to rectify this by imposing the maximum penalty to deter similar offenses.
Littlejohn’s defense attorneys, on the other hand, have argued for leniency, claiming that their client broke federal laws out of a sense of duty to the American people. They assert that Littlejohn believed sharing the tax information was the only way to effect change. It’s a disturbing example of how some individuals with Trump Derangement Syndrome allow their intense hatred for the former president to drive them to commit crimes.
The Republicans, however, characterized Littlejohn as a deluded white-collar vigilante who abused his position at the IRS and betrayed the public’s trust. They condemned his actions for demonstrating a complete disregard for the rule of law and the American people’s faith in the voluntary tax system. The lawmakers believe that a maximum sentence of five years is necessary to discourage similar conduct in the future. The judge’s decision, expected on Monday, will ultimately determine whether justice is served.
