This summary was submitted to the subreddit:
From the CNN article -
The man who stole and leaked former President Donald Trump and thousands of othersâ tax records has been sentenced to five years in prison.
In October, Charles Littlejohn, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized disclosures of income tax returns. According to his plea agreement, he stole Trumpâs tax returns along with the tax data of âthousands of the nationâs wealthiest people,â while working for a consulting firm with contracts with the Internal Revenue Service.
Littlejohn leaked the information to two news outlets and deleted the documents from his IRS-assigned laptop before returning it and covered the rest of his digital tracks by deleting places where he initially stored the information.
Judge Ana Reyes highlighted the gravity of the crime, saying multiple times that it amounted to an attack against the US and its legal foundation.
âWhat you did in attacking the sitting president of the United States was an attack on our constitutional democracy,â Reyes said. âWeâre talking about someone who ⊠pulled off the biggest heist in IRS history.â
The judge compared Littlejohnâs actions to those of the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, noting that, âyour actions were also a threat to our democracy.â
âIt engenders the same fear that January 6 does,â Reyes added.
Prosecutors said Littlejohn went through great lengths to steal the tax records undetected, exploiting system loopholes, downloading data to an Apple iPod and uploading the information on a private website he later deleted.
Reyes was also critical of the Justice Departmentâs decision to only bring one count against Littlejohn.
âThe fact that he did what he did and heâs facing one felony count, I have no words for,â the judge said. Prosecutors argued that the one count covers the multitude of Littlejohnâs thefts and leaks.
âA free press and public engagement with the media are critical to any healthy democracy, but stealing and leaking private, personal tax information strips individuals of the legal protection of their most sensitive data,â prosecutors wrote in a court filing recommending Littlejohn be sentenced to the maximum of five years in prison.
âI acted out of a sincere misguided belief,â Littlejohn said in court Monday, adding that he was serving the country and that people had a right to the tax information.
âWe as a country make the best decisions when we are all properly informed,â Littlejohn said.
Littlejohn added that he was âaware of the potential consequencesâ of his actions and knew he would one day be here, in federal court, facing those consequences.
âMy actions undermine the fragile faith,â in government institutions in the US, Littlejohn said.
Five YEARS in prison for a white collar crime where he personally gained nothing from it. Many of the Jan 6 attackers are already scot-free and they tried to overthrow the fucking government.
Like I said I donât agree with the sentencing but doing illegal shit has consequences. Whether he personally gained something from it doesnât make any difference in the fact that he committed a crime.
Would you be ok with someone stealing your personal info and plastering it across the internet? How do we know your personal info or my personal info wasnât leaked in the process?
Or are we saying that committing crimes is OK just as long as you donât like the victim?
Both me and OP never argued that he should have no consequences at all. But five years in prison is banana republic level shit.
Donât you guys (US) have an election coming up soon? This can definitely affect the outcome of that election. I kind of feel that 5 years is fairly light for unlawful disclosure of private information that affects the outcome of a major election.
I can definitely see the angle that he did it for a good reason, but I hope he understood the consequences when he decided to do it.
So then help explain âland of the freeâ comment.
Because to me that implies OP doesnât understand what freedom actually means.
Shit take either way.
If this was the banana republic that person would have been executed. Yall live in a fucking bubble ffs.
I can see the connection somehow even if itâs a bit out there. Iâm ok with people breaking the law when the law is unjust or made to protect those in power. Donât defend the situation just because itâs the law because thatâs the wrong take here.
There must be such a thing as freedom of information and if Iâm not mistaken being a whistleblower would usually go against certain laws but it can be somewhat protected. What heâs done is on that gray area of whistleblowing and he shouldnât be punished for it, even if itâs against the law. This has nothing to do with not liking the victim and you are just gaslighting the complaint of op.
Also, many countries have such thing as freedom of information about taxes paid by everyone, itâs not such a horrible thing to be open to anyone. It helps specially to avoid cases of corruption and so on.
The wrong take is thinking that breaking the law is OK just because you donât like the victim. Smh
If you were the victim youâd be singing a different tune.
Sincerely I think you are missing the point (on purpose or not I donât know and this will be my last answer to you on this topic). A law can be wrong, can be unjust, and breaking it wouldnât be ethically wrong.
This dude from the post did what he did knowing he put himself at risk, and he is standing his own for it, acknowledging what he has done, not avoiding whatever may be the punishment. That doesnât mean that the law is being used to protect anything other than the interest of rich people avoiding taxes. Thatâs the law he broke? Good then! That law shouldnât exist! Itâs not about whoâs the victim, me or other. Yeah sure if I was avoiding paying taxes thatâd probably mean I wouldnât want to be caught either, that doesnât make it right anywayâŠ
No this is just you thinking that itâs OK because you donât like the victim.
Are you OK with people leaking your tax returns across the internet? I doubt it.
If so send me your tax returns. Youâll never do it.
Well, the thing is that where I live, anyone can make a request to see the taxes of anyone. A prospective employer when looking for an employee can go confirm what he makes in their current place. I could go check on my boss. Every year thereâs (was? Iâm not up to speed on this topic) a report in the media of who earns most and the taxes they are paying and so on.
So yeah, that info is public, doesnât mean I want to share it with you tho, different context and such XD but if youâd know who I am you could go check my data legally and I wouldnât be able to do anything about it.
Funny how that works huh?
All talk but when confronted itâs suddenly an issue.
Damn you are obtuse⊠I donât need to give it to you, it is public information. Go ask for it from the government where I live. Ah, you donât know who I am? Maybe thatâs why I donât want to give you that information. The fact that I protect my anonymity here has nothing to do with what I consider should be public data as citizens in a government. But either you are too dumb to get the difference or you are just trolling, either way the conversation is over.
yes. youâre starting to get it.
youâve been duped by goose and gander logic. this is how sociopaths continue to get away with creating suffering.
comitting crimes is ok if itâs in the service of humanity.