Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Treasury Department cut contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton, whose employee leaked President Donald Trump‘s tax returns years ago. By early afternoon, the move sent the consulting firm’s stock down more than 11%.
The department has 31 different contracts with the firm, worth $4.8 million in yearly spending and $21 million in obligations, it said in a press release. The press release noted that Charles Edward Littlejohn, a former employee at the consulting firm, leaked the tax returns of thousands of taxpayers. The leak affected roughly 406,000 people, according to the IRS.
“Booz Allen failed to implement adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, including the confidential taxpayer information it had access to through its contracts with the Internal Revenue Service,” Bessent said in the release.
A company spokesperson said in a statement that it has “consistently condemned in the strongest possible terms” Littlejohn’s actions, and has “zero tolerance” for breaking the law.
“When Littlejohn’s criminal conduct occurred over 5 years ago, it was on government systems, not Booz Allen systems. Booz Allen stores no taxpayer data on its systems and has no ability to monitor activity on government networks,” the statement said. It added that the company supported the government’s investigation, and that they “look forward to discussing this matter with Treasury.”
Littlejohn pleaded guilty in 2023 to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax return information and was sentenced to five years in prison last year, according to the New York Times. He shared the returns of Trump and other wealthy Americans, including Elon Musk, with the outlet and ProPublica.
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