WSJ: Citadel’s Ken Griffin Sues IRS Over Leak Of Tax Return Info To ProPublica

Wall Street Journal, Ken Griffin Sues IRS Over Tax Privacy Breach That Also Affected Other Billionaires:

Billionaire hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin sued the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department on Tuesday, seeking damages after disclosure of his tax records.

Tax data about wealthy people such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos were published by the news organization ProPublica starting in June 2021, in an unusual breach of the confidentiality of tax returns. The news site published articles mentioning Mr. Griffin and using information from his tax records in April and July this year.

The IRS inspector general and Justice Department are investigating the disclosures, and officials say they are taking the matter seriously. So far, they have released no reports and haven’t charged anyone with a crime. ...

The exact path by which the tax data reached ProPublica isn’t publicly known. The lawsuit cites a long series of inspector general reports dating back more than a decade showing various flaws and gaps in IRS information security. 

“The IRS made these unlawful disclosures knowingly, or at the very least negligently or with gross negligence,” the lawsuit says. “The IRS willfully failed to establish appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to insure the security and confidentiality of Mr. Griffin’s confidential taxpayer information.”

ProPublica, Hedge Fund Manager Ken Griffin Sues IRS Over “Unlawful Disclosure” of His Tax Information to ProPublica:

ProPublica has declined to elaborate on how and when we obtained the tax information or to comment on any investigations of the leak. We do not know who the source or sources of the tax information was.

• Bloomberg, Citadel’s Griffin Sues IRS for Failing to Protect His Financial Data
• Bloomberg, Citadel’s Ken Griffin Taps Musk, Pro Golfer Law Firm in IRS Tilt
• Law360, Citadel CEO Sues IRS Over Leak Of Tax Return Info

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• ProPublica: America's Richest People Pay Little To Nothing In Federal Income Taxes (June 8, 2021)
• ProPublica: How Peter Thiel Turned $2,000 In A Roth IRA Into $5,000,000,000 (June 28, 2021)
• ProPublica: Why You Can’t Turn Your Roth IRA Into a Billion-Dollar Tax Shelter (July 1, 2021)
• ProPublica: The Billionaire Playbook — How Sports Owners Use Their Teams To Avoid Millions In Taxes (July 12, 2021)
• ProPublica: The Number Of People With IRAs Worth $5 Million Or More Has Tripled, Congress Says (July 29, 2021)
• ProPublica: Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Tax Cut” (Aug. 11, 2021)
• ProPublica: How The Trump Tax Law Created A Loophole That Lets Top Executives Net Millions By Slashing Their Own Salaries (Aug. 20, 2021)
• ProPublica: House Bill Would Blow Up The Massive IRAs Of The Superwealthy (Sept. 22, 2021)
• ProPublica: More Than Half Of America’s 100 Richest People Exploit GRATs To Avoid Estate Taxes (Sept. 30, 2021)
• ProPublica: 18 Billionaires Received Taxpayer-Funded Stimulus Checks During The Pandemic (Nov. 4, 2021)
• ProPublica: How These Ultrawealthy Politicians Avoided Paying Taxes (Nov. 5, 2021)
• ProPublica: More Billionaire Tax Games (Dec. 9, 2021)
• ProPublica: How Three Families Shielded Their Fortunes From Taxes For Generations (Dec. 15, 2021)
• Wall Street Journal Editorial, The Internal Revenue Leak Service (Dec. 15, 2021)
• ProPublica: When Billionaires Don’t Pay Taxes, People 'Lose Faith In Democracy' (Mar. 4, 2022)
• ProPublica Names The 15 Americans Who Reported The Most Income And Reveals Data For The Top 400 (Apr. 14, 2022)
• ProPublica: If You’re Getting A W-2, You’re A Sucker (Apr. 19, 2022)
• ProPublica: The Tax Scam That Won’t Die (June 22, 2022)
• ProPublica: The Billionaire GOP Mega-Donor Who’s Gaming The Tax System (June 22, 2022)
• ProPublica: Ten Ways Billionaires Avoid Taxes On An Epic Scale (June 27, 2022)
• Wall Street Journal Editorial, Comey|McCabe IRS Audits AND ProPublica Tax Leak Should Be Investigated (July 8, 2022)