IRS contractor charged with stealing Donald Trump's tax returns, which were leaked to press | CNN Politics
3 years ago by TheOneWithTheHair to c/politics
Yep. Hope he holds his head high during trial.
Well ...
In addition to the former president’s tax documents, Littlejohn is also accused of stealing IRS information on “thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, including returns and return information dating back more than 15 years.” Littlejohn then sent that tax information to a second unnamed news organization.
If it was only Trump's tax returns, then I might agree with you. It wasn't targeted specifically and only at Trump; it was an extremely wide net that was cast, and we don't know who the rest of the people are. Based on the information publicly available, this appears more like an attempt to sell the information, or act illegally based on some fringe principle.
I get it, that's fair. But justice means protecting the rights of people you don't like, or of people who are exercising their rights in ways you don't like.
Does that run counter to my saying I might agree if it was only Trump's tax returns? Maybe it does a little bit. I feel comfortable leaning on that Trump was openly fraudulent, corrupt, and criminal by the time Littlejohn swiped the records.
But it definitely runs counter to being okay with someone making off with tax returns of people only described as "thousands of the nation's wealthiest people," with no other context. I have far fewer mitigating factors (really only one, wealth) to lean on there, even if I have my suspicions about the integrity of "thousands of the nation's wealthiest people.
It's a very fuzzy area, and I think that reasonable people can make sound arguments either way. I suppose what I can do is be pleased with the results of Littlejohn's actions, and believe that his being criminally charged for them, and think that his motivations were probably unrelated to patriotism.
Shit's complicated, yo.
A person can do something wrong but you can still appreciate that someone did it. Like that guy who shot the YouTube harasser or people who punch Nazis. I don’t want to live in a nation where that kind of lawlessness is commonplace or accepted, but I’d buy those folks a beer after they are released. And if I were interviewing to hire someone who had a criminal record but it was for punching Nazis I think that would be neutral at worst.
Highly unlikely that a contractor would have actual reason to believe that each of thousands of people had committed tax crimes so heinous that a justifiable action was to purloin each of their tax returns going back fifteen years, and then deliver that information to media outlets.
So you’ve not heard of the Panama papers, or are just wilfully ignoring evidence that it’s pretty much proven fact that they do commit tax crimes.
Who cares what rich people think. We are constantly bombarded by propaganda meant to divide the pleebs and keep them from realizing the ruling class is robing us blind.
I was writing this comment while you were posting.
Assuming you're referring to this:
But justice means protecting the rights of people you don't like, or of people who are exercising their rights in ways you don't like.
Yup, it means both. Those are not mutually exclusive.
And:
this appears more like an attempt to sell the information, or act illegally based on some fringe principle.
He should've posted them all online. As a cpa with a bit of rare downtime on my hands I'd love to volunteer to review returns for the irs. I know all the errors and omissions, tricks and and gimmicks, goofs, fuckups, whoopsies, you name it. 20% commission for the recovered taxes seems fair compensation.
damn, like a vigilante accountants equivalent to the justice league. Would you be wearing a costume in this hypothetical?
I'd watch that TV show. But then I also enjoyed The Pale King by David Foster Wallace (a novel about tax)
What makes you think I don't already wear a crime fighting suit to work? There was a documentary about it and everything, The Accountant. I specialize in espionage, intrusion/counter intrusion, taking some CPE next week for long range assault weaponry, the usual.
Here in Finland it is public. Reality is that nobody actually cares how much normal people make.
If you want to know how much your CEO or boss pockets money, why is it a bad thing. It is good for income equality.
I read once that maybe Sweden or Norway has publicly available tax returns. BUT, the person whose return you look at gets notified when you view it, so you can't just go around subtly snooping on your friends and neighbors without being noticed. Idk if that's true though.
Sounds like a hero to me
Not to defend Trump in the slightest, but it was my understanding that the President isn't actually required to release his taxes; it's just a tradition that literally every other presidential candidate has conformed to. You know, to show that they're trustworthy, which is why Trump never released his.
Yep, Trump showed how much of the government actually runs on norms and traditions instead of actual laws. Even some of the laws that he did break (like the Presidential Records Act) don't actually specify penalties because Congress assumed it wasn't necessary.
The funny thing is, his tax returns were fairly unremarkable. I'm a cpa and my background is largely with high and ultra high net worth individuals and their businesses, so people like trump are my bread and butter. I reviewed his returns when they first leaked and honestly nothing jumped out at me as particularly noteworthy or interesting at all. All I can speculate is that he's just a stubborn asshole and simply didn't want to release them.
I always thought the big "issue" people were expecting wasnt that the tax returns were going to show anything illegal or noteworthy, but rather they would instead just show that he is worth way less than he goes around claiming.
And his plan for healthcare reform is going to be released next month too any time now.
Not a legal requirement, just the "right thing to do"
It should be, but nobody has ever refused before I believe.
Turns out the founding fathers could not account for a situation where half the voting public wants everything to burn.
If storming the capital gets your 3 months, then exposing Trump's fraud should get you... A medal of honor?
The rich deserve to be exposed for the countless crimes they've committed over the decades with tax dodging. Good on this man. It speaks volumes of how shitty our country is though when January 6th insurrectionists get less time than this guy might though.
Sadly, a jury of his peers will be people who make just enough that they are suddenly concerned about their tax return privacy despite being a W2 earner.
Maybe he and Trump can be cellmates!
Gem 💎
Haha yep, that's exactly what I thought of too upon hearing the name. I do love that movie.
Makes me think of this
WHAT?
OKAY
Same... ages us
Proof of insurance?
Why are tax returns not public property? In Sweden you can look up anyone's tax info.
A man named Littlejohn, so sly,
Stole Trump's taxes as they caught his eye,
For his audacious feat,
A national hero's seat,
Damnthefilibuster says, let him fly!
Yes. Limerick to be precise.
Brain no worky. GPT to the rescue!
Prompt engineering ftw.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Federal prosecutors announced charges Friday against a contractor with the Internal Revenue Service who allegedly stole the tax returns of a high-ranking government official.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that official is former President Donald Trump.
The man, 38-year-old Charles Edward Littlejohn, worked with the IRS from 2018 to 2020, according to court documents.
Though the official is not named in court documents, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN the tax returns in question were Trump’s.
“Both news organizations published numerous articles describing the tax information they obtained from the Defendant,” court documents said.
The New York Times and ProPublica both published articles based on tax records of the former president and other wealthy Americans around the same timeframe – in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
The original article contains 308 words, the summary contains 130 words. Saved 58%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I love how it's about someone leaking documents and the very next thing is someone leaking to CNN that this case is about Donald Trump.
There's a certain meta humour to this that's kind of impressive.
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He should have violently stormed Congress instead. You only get like 3 months for that.
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