IRS ‘Sincerely Apologizes To Ken Griffin And Thousands Of Other Taxpayers Whose Personal Information Was Leaked To The Press’

Following up on Tuesday's post, Hedge Fund Billionaire Ken Griffin And IRS Settle Lawsuit Over Tax Returns Leaked To ProPublica:

New York Times DealBook, The Taxman Apologizeth:

The Internal Revenue Service has offered a rare public apology for a data leak that revealed the tax return details of Ken Griffin, the billionaire investor, and thousands of other affluent taxpayers.

The statement appears to draw a line under a legal battle. Griffin, the Citadel founder, sued the government in 2022 to force the agency to acknowledge its mistakes and to improve data security. The sides settled, and the I.R.S. published its apology yesterday.

A recap: Charles Littlejohn, an I.R.S. contractor, obtained the tax details of Griffin and others, including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, and disclosed them to ProPublica, which published the findings in a series of articles. Littlejohn, who was also accused of leaking Donald Trump’s tax documents to The Times, was sentenced to five years in prison in January.

The I.R.S. acknowledged internal failures. Littlejohn “violated the terms of his contract and betrayed the trust that the American people place in the I.R.S. to safeguard their sensitive information,” the agency said. The I.R.S. added it had “made substantial investments in its data security to strengthen its safeguarding of taxpayer information.”

Griffin said that it was “an outcome that will better protect American taxpayers and that will ultimately benefit all Americans.”

The I.R.S.’s mea culpa drew applause from some conservatives. The settlement comes as the agency — and now its watchdog — are embroiled in a partisan feud over how the agency has handled the tax-exemption status of right-wing political organizations.

IR 2024-172, IRS Statement as Part of the Resolution of Kenneth C. Griffin v. IRS, Case No. 22-cv-24023 (S.D. Fla.) (June 25, 2024):

The Internal Revenue Service sincerely apologizes to Mr. Kenneth Griffin and the thousands of other Americans whose personal information was leaked to the press.

Charles Littlejohn was a government contractor providing services to the IRS at the time he made the illegal disclosures. He violated the terms of his contract and betrayed the trust that the American people place in the IRS to safeguard their sensitive information.

The IRS takes its responsibilities seriously and acknowledges that it failed to prevent Mr. Littlejohn’s criminal conduct and unlawful disclosure of Mr. Griffin’s confidential data. Accordingly, the IRS assures Mr. Griffin and the other victims of Mr. Littlejohn’s actions that it has made substantial investments in its data security to strengthen its safeguarding of taxpayer information.

These investments address potential weaknesses in the IRS’s systems as identified by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which provides independent oversight of the IRS.

Additionally, the IRS continues, and will continue on a going-forward basis after this resolution, to work with TIGTA, the Government Accountability Office, other government agencies and independent third parties to assess the IRS’s systems for potential vulnerabilities.

The IRS routinely reports to the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means, which exercise Congressional oversight of the IRS, on its efforts to strengthen any security deficiencies identified by the IRS, TIGTA, GAO and third parties.

The agency believes that its actions and the resolution of this case will result in a stronger and more trustworthy process for safeguarding the personal information of all taxpayers.

Wall Street Journal, IRS Apologizes to Billionaire Ken Griffin for Leak of Tax Records