Mary Katherine Browne, “Appeals Court Affirms Sentence for Trump Tax Return Leaker” (Tax Notes, July 20, 2026):
The D.C. Circuit rejected a former IRS contractor’s bid to overturn his five-year sentence for leaking the tax returns of President Trump and thousands of wealthy taxpayers, finding no evidence of a predetermined sentence or improper outside pressure.
In a July 17 opinion in United States v. Littlejohn, Circuit Judge Justin R. Walker affirmed Charles E. Littlejohn’s sentence for the unauthorized disclosure of tax return information belonging to a sitting president and 7,600 other wealthy taxpayers.
“We find no merit in Littlejohn’s arguments that the district court (1) predetermined his sentence, (2) relied on clearly erroneous factual findings, (3) impermissibly considered a letter sent by some members of Congress, and (4) did not provide an adequate explanation for the court’s upward variance,” Walker said.
