The man who leaked President Donald Trump’s tax records is reportedly pleading the fifth and declining to testify in front of a House Judiciary Committee panel led by Republicans.
The man identified as former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contractor Charles Littlejohn is currently serving a five-year prison sentence after leaking Trump’s records and those belonging to thousands of others, Fox News reported on Wednesday.
However, he is now apparently asserting his Fifth Amendment right as leaders probe the plea bargain he made with former President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ).
The outlet said a public defender wrote to the committee on behalf of Littlejohn, saying he was appealing his sentence and therefore was not required to give his testimony.
“The testimony that you seek from Mr. Littlejohn directly implicates his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Mr. Littlejohn validly exercises that Constitutional right in declining to testify,” the letter read.
According to the Constitution of the United States, the Fifth Amendment’s text reads:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
In January 2024, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) and committee Republicans said they wanted Littlejohn to face the maximum penalty.
Per the recent Fox article, the committee “is investigating a plea deal Littlejohn reached with the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2023. Littlejohn admitted to prosecutors as part of the plea bargain that he carried out an elaborate scheme to access and disclose Trump’s tax information and the tax returns of thousands of the wealthiest U.S. citizens to The New York Times and ProPublica.”
Despite leaking over 400,000 tax returns, Littlejohn pleaded guilty to only one count of unauthorized disclosure. He then received a 60-month sentence, which was the maximum penalty for the single count.
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