January 23, 2024

The Honorable Ana C. Reyes

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse
333 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

RE: United States v. Charles Littlejohn, 1:23-cr-00343-ACR

Dear Judge Reyes:

We write today to encourage you to sentence Mr. Charles Littlejohn above the anticipated
sentencing guidelines range of 8 to 14 months and to the maximum of five years. We make this
request respectfully and with complete deference for your role in deciding the appropriate
sentence in this case. As the Committee on Ways and Means (Committee), which has jurisdiction
over the Internal Revenue Code, our intention is to share important context related to this case
that may be helpful to your decisions regarding sentencing. For years, the Committee has
conducted congressional oversight of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) related to the security
of confidential taxpayer information. The Committee has questioned federal investigators and
sought answers about who illegally stole and then later leaked private and confidential American
taxpayer information and how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allowed it to happen. 1 Now
that Mr. Littlejohn has been prosecuted and will be sentenced, the Committee will continue to
fulfill its oversight role over the IRS in an effort to make sure it does not happen again.

But the Committee cannot accomplish this alone. As the Court knows, some of the
Section 3553(a) factors it must consider are “the need for the sentence imposed . . . to reflect the
seriousness of the offense [and] to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct.” 18 U.S.C. §
3553(a)(2). Individuals who may be inclined to take the law into their own hands, as Mr.
Littlejohn did, must know that they will be caught and that they will face severe consequences.
We worry that a sentence of only 8 to 14 months does not comport with the seriousness of the
crimes committed and we are concerned that a sentence in that range will fail to have the
deterrent effect needed to prevent such a theft and disclosure from happening again. Below we
describe some of the reasons why we think this is the case.

1
H. Comm. On Ways and Means Press Release, Brady Calls for Investigation into Potentially Criminal Leak of
Trump’s Private Tax Info, Sept. 28, 2020, https://waysandmeans.house.gov/brady-calls-for-investigation-into-
potentially-criminal-leak-of-trumps-private-tax-info/.
The Honorable Ana C. Reyes
January 23, 2024
Page 2
First, we are concerned about the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) determination to plead
Mr. Littlejohn to a single count of unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information 2 when the
facts clearly warrant additional charges. Given that Mr. Littlejohn admitted to not only
obstructing the DOJ’s investigation, but also to making multiple distinct illegal disclosures of
taxpayer information, a plea to one count of unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information
appears insufficient on its face. According to the factual proffer in support of the plea, Mr.
Littlejohn admitted to committing two separate acts related to misappropriation of taxpayer
information: stealing and disclosing private tax information associated with former President
Donald J. Trump to The New York Times; and also stealing private tax information associated
with thousands of individuals and disclosing this information to ProPublica.3 Mr. Littlejohn not
only admitted to committing these two separate acts, but he also acknowledged as part of his plea
agreement that he obstructed the DOJ’s investigation into the matter. 4

The Committee wrote to the DOJ on November 8, 2023, seeking an explanation as to

why it only charged Mr. Littlejohn with a single count.5 Despite our concerns that Mr. Littlejohn
was only charged with one count, the Committee was pleased to see that on January 16, 2024,
the DOJ filed a sentencing memorandum, in which the government urges the Court to sentence
Mr. Littlejohn to the statutory maximum of five years imprisonment.6 The DOJ also provided a
response to the Committee’s letter on January 17, 2024. Like the DOJ, we do not believe a
sentence of 8 to 14 months for the crimes committed will effectively deter similar conduct in the
future. Given the seriousness of Mr. Littlejohn’s crimes, we believe a sentence above the
anticipated guideline range is warranted.

After initially raising concerns about the data breach that led to the leak of President
Trump’s confidential tax information to The New York Times in 2020, Members of the
Committee called for transparency and an investigation following ProPublica’s publication of
taxpayer information in June 2021.7 The Committee has worked with the Treasury Inspector
General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to learn about the progress of the investigation and to
encourage them to keep pushing towards a resolution. TIGTA dedicated extensive resources to
the matter in the form of both personnel and time. Their work was able to identify Mr. Littlejohn
and make the prosecution and guilty plea here possible. Given how difficult it was for TIGTA to
identify the culprit, it would be a shame if Mr. Littlejohn received a light sentence after stealing
and disclosing an unprecedented amount of private taxpayer information.

2
Plea Agreement, Oct. 12, 2023, Case No. 1:23-cr-003430ACR (ECF 8)
3
Factual Basis for Plea, Oct. 12, 2023, Case No. 1:23-cr-003430ACR (ECF 9).
4
Id.
5
Letter from The Hon. Jason Smith, Chairman, H. Comm. on Ways and Means, et. al., to Corey R. Amundson,
Chief, Public Integrity Section, Criminal Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice (Nov. 8, 2023),
https://waysandmeans.house.gov/ways-and-means-republicans-demand-doj-answers-for-inadequate-charging-
decisions-for-propublica-leaker/.
6
Gov’t Sentencing Memorandum, Jan. 16, 2024, Case No. 1:23-cr-003430ACR.
7
H. Comm. On Ways and Means Press Release, Brady, Crapo to IRS: Breach of Taxpayer Data Cannot Be
Tolerated: Top Republican Tax Writers Call for Transparency, Investigation Into Leak of Confidential Tax
Information, June 9, 2021, https://waysandmeans.house.gov/brady-crapo-to-irs-breach-of-taxpayer-data-cannot-be-
tolerated/.
The Honorable Ana C. Reyes
January 23, 2024
Page 3
Mr. Littlejohn took the law into his own hands and decided he knew what was best. As
you are aware, Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code contains a process by which Congress
can obtain otherwise confidential tax information and release it under certain circumstances. Mr.
Littlejohn’s actions showed disdain for the rule of law and American confidence in our voluntary
tax system. He acted with an apparent political motivation and perhaps with an intent to impact a
Presidential election. While we wish that prosecutors had pleaded him to additional counts, you
still can impose a more serious sentence than the anticipated 8-to-14-month guideline range. In
our view, the seriousness of the crimes and the context surrounding them justify an upward
variance. So that similar conduct is deterred in the future, we respectfully ask that you sentence
Mr. Littlejohn to the maximum sentence of five years.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

__________________________ __________________________
Jason Smith Vern Buchanan
Chairman Member of Congress
Committee on Ways and Means

__________________________ __________________________
Adrian Smith Mike Kelly
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ __________________________
David Schweikert Darin LaHood
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ __________________________
Brad R. Wenstrup, D.P.M. Jodey C. Arrington
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ __________________________
A. Drew Ferguson, IV Ron Estes
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ __________________________
Lloyd Smucker Kevin Hern
Member of Congress Member of Congress
The Honorable Ana C. Reyes
January 23, 2024
Page 4

__________________________ __________________________
Carol D. Miller Gregory F. Murphy, M.D.
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ __________________________
David Kustoff Brian K. Fitzpatrick
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ __________________________
W. Gregory Steube Claudia Tenney
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ __________________________
Michelle Fischbach Blake D. Moore
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ __________________________
Michelle Steel Beth Van Duyne
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ __________________________
Randy Feenstra Nicole Malliotakis
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________
Mike Carey
Member of Congress

cc: Counsel of record, United States v. Charles Littlejohn, 1:23-cr-00343-ACR