Trump claims $10 billion! IRS tax leak scandal continues to escalate

January 30 News, Donald Trump has officially filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Federal Court in Miami against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, accusing the two agencies of failing to properly protect his confidential tax information and seeking damages of up to $10 billion for reputational and business harm. The case stems from a major data breach involving a former IRS contractor who illegally accessed and leaked tax documents.

According to the complaint, the IRS and the Department of the Treasury are accused of serious vulnerabilities in internal access management and information security, allowing former contractor Charles Littlejohn to download and disseminate Trump’s 2019 and 2020 tax filings without authorization. The relevant documents were subsequently disclosed by multiple media outlets, involving Trump himself, his family members, and several of his businesses.

Charles Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October 2023, admitting to providing tax records to The New York Times and sharing financial data of other wealthy individuals with ProPublica. At the time, he was providing technical services to the Department of the Treasury through Booz Allen Hamilton and was ultimately sentenced to five years in federal prison. Prosecutors stated that the scope of the leak was ‘unprecedented’ and was an individual act.

Trump’s legal team believes the incident has clear political overtones and emphasizes that once the tax information was made public, it spread rapidly and irreversibly, causing long-term negative impacts on personal and commercial brands. The lawsuit also notes that media reports have led to public misunderstandings about alleged misconduct, but the documents themselves do not prove any illegal activity.

Following the exposure of the incident, the Department of the Treasury has terminated its contract with Booz Allen Hamilton. The complaint states that this move indicates the government has recognized deficiencies in internal oversight and data security mechanisms. Trump’s side argues that the IRS and the Department of the Treasury have a statutory responsibility to protect taxpayers’ privacy, and this negligence is the fundamental cause of the leak.

Currently, the case has attracted significant attention from U.S. political and business circles as well as the privacy protection sector. It is widely believed that this lawsuit not only involves substantial compensation but may also prompt federal agencies to reevaluate their data security and compliance systems.