The Treasury Department announced the termination of its contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton on Monday, resulting in the cancellation of $21 million in federal agreements. This decision stems from the actions of a former employee, Charles Littlejohn, who is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for leaking President Donald Trump’s tax returns to the media.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent highlighted the breach in a statement, emphasizing that Littlejohn stole sensitive tax return information while working for the IRS. He underscored the importance of this cancellation as a measure to restore public trust in the government. “President Trump has entrusted his cabinet to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and canceling these contracts is an essential step to increasing Americans’ trust in government,” Bessent stated. He criticized Booz Allen for failing to adequately protect sensitive data, including confidential taxpayer information it accessed via its IRS contracts.
In response, a spokesperson for Booz Allen Hamilton countered Bessent’s assertions, claiming that the company cooperated fully with the government during its investigation of Littlejohn’s actions. According to the spokesperson, the government acknowledged Booz Allen’s assistance, which contributed to Littlejohn’s prosecution. Furthermore, the company stated that Littlejohn’s offenses occurred on government systems rather than their own, asserting that they do not store taxpayer data and lack the capability to monitor activity on government networks.
Littlejohn, who pleaded guilty to unauthorized disclosures of income tax returns in 2023, was involved in the leak of Trump’s tax information, which was made public by The New York Times and ProPublica. The revelations indicated that Trump had not paid federal income taxes for several years prior to his presidency, creating a significant public interest in the case. The judge overseeing Littlejohn’s sentencing described the incident as “the biggest heist in IRS history,” noting that the breach impacted more than 400,000 taxpayers. The prosecution was handled by the Justice Department under the Biden administration.
Current records show that Littlejohn is incarcerated in a medium-security federal facility in southern Illinois, with a scheduled release date in October 2027. Following the announcement of the contract cancellations, shares of Booz Allen experienced a drop of approximately 10%.
