Treasury axes contracts with Booz Allen over Donald Trump tax leaks

The Treasury Department has axed a string of contracts with consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton over a former employee’s leaks of the tax returns of President Donald Trump — along with Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk — to news outlets.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ripped the firm’s failure to handle confidential data following the scandal involving former Booz Allen contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn, who stole tax records relating to Trump and handed them to the New York Times.“Booz Allen failed to implement adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, including the confidential taxpayer information it had access to through its contracts with the Internal Revenue Service,” Bessent said.He added that Treasury’s cancellation of the 31 contracts worth $4.8 million annually and $21 million in total obligation was part of Trump’s efforts to “root out waste, fraud, and abuse.”Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax return information.His leaks came between 2018 and 2020, during Trump’s first term.The president had refused to release his taxes publicly before Littlejohn’s breach revealed details.The 41-year-old St.

Louis native was slapped with a five-year federal prison sentence in January 2024, with the IRS claiming that the leak affected about 406,000 taxpayers between 2018 and 2020.Stock for Booz Allen — one of the biggest security contractors in the US, which once employed whistleblower Edward Snowden — fell more than 10% following Monday’s announcement, closing down 8.11% at $108.29.The firm has repeatedly distanced itself from Littlejohn’s actions and emphasized that the breach occurred on government systems, not its own.“We have consistently condemned in the strongest possible terms the actions of Charles Littlejohn, who was active with the company years ago,” Booz Allen said in a Monday statement to The Post.“Booz Allen has zero tolerance for violations of the law and opera...