DOJ charges IRS consultant with allegedly leaking wealthy individuals' tax info

The Justice Department announced on Friday charges against a Washington, D.C., IRS consultant for allegedly leaking tax information associated with former President Donald Trump and thousands of other wealthy individuals to two separate news organizations.

38-year-old Charles Littlejohn was charged via a criminal information with one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information -- indicating he is likely set to plead guilty to the charge.

The criminal information notes that while he worked at the IRS as a government contractor, he stole information associated with an unnamed high-ranking government official and disclosed it to a news organization. He also stole tax information from "thousands of the nation's wealthiest individuals and disclosed that information to a separate news organization," the Justice Department says.

A person familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News that the unnamed high-ranking government official is Trump.

The second set of alleged disclosures by Littlejohn related to a report from ProPublica, the person familiar confirmed, which in 2021 published an extensive feature detailing how billionaires like Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, and Jeff Bezos pay little in income taxes relative to their massive wealth.

Littlejohn faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison should he ultimately plead guilty to the charge. He did not immediately have a defense attorney listed for him on his court docket in D.C. Friday afternoon.