They Were Just Going to Pretend This Massive Breach Didn’t Happen…
James Hickman

It’s been nearly four years since ProPublica, the radical leftist organization masquerading as journalism, published an article called: “The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax.”

The publication exposed the private tax records of some of America’s most successful citizens—Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and others.

And it showed, much to the outrage of the Left, that Jeff Bezos only paid about a billion dollars in federal income taxes from 2014-2018. Shame on him. Even though this was the amount that Bezos legally owed the government, the Left believes he should have paid more.

All of this sensitive taxpayer information is supposed to remain confidential; in fact no other agency or department of government outside of the IRS has access to tax records. The last place it’s supposed to end up is out in public.

Yet once the information was leaked, the IRS and Treasury Department looked totally incompetent. IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig played dumb, only vaguely acknowledging that an investigation was underway.

He said, for example, that the IRS was looking into “allegations that the source of the information in that article came from the Internal Revenue Service.”

Allegations? Where the hell else would that information have come from except for the IRS?? Talk about being tone deaf.

Not to be outdone, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen repeatedly dodged questions, insisting, “We don’t know what happened.”

For more than two years, officials refused to admit the truth.

All the while, the IRS knew exactly what had happened.

It turned out that Charles Littlejohn, a Booz Allen Hamilton employee who was working as a contractor at the IRS, had stolen the data— making off with at least 405,427 tax records.

Littlejohn thought himself on a mission from God. He thought he was righteous and patriotic. He views wealthy people as evil, so he deliberately sought out a job that would give him access to IRS taxpayer records; the whole job was premeditated and carefully planned.

The government knew. Yet instead of coming clean, the IRS and Treasury hid the truth from taxpayers for 800 days. (And they didn’t even bother starting to inform those whose records were stolen until last month— nearly four years after the breach.)

It wasn’t until September 29, 2023, that the agency finally admitted what they had known all along: the breach had come from inside the IRS. Yeah. Duh.

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice also helped keep the scandal quiet by charging Littlejohn with just a single, symbolic count of unauthorized disclosure… instead of 405,427 counts of theft.

That’s obviously because they viewed Littlejohn as a martyr, fighting for his country. You see, Donald Trump was among Littlejohn’s victims. And according to court filings, Littlejohn was motivated by a belief that Trump was “dangerous and a threat to democracy.”

Where in the world could he have possibly gotten that idea?

Littlejohn received just five years in prison for stealing and leaking over 400,000 taxpayer records—amounting to less than seven minutes per felony, despite committing one of the largest data thefts in government history.

Even the Biden-appointed judge was stunned at how leniently the case was handled, saying, “The fact that he did what he did and he’s facing one felony count, I have no words for.”

And to make matters worse, a 2024 security audit found that IRS systems remained just as vulnerable as they were when Littlejohn stole the data.

In other words, the government not only failed to prevent this breach, but they also spent over two years covering it up—only to leave taxpayers just as exposed as before. At least 919 IRS employees still have full, unmasked access to taxpayer data, including 20 “researchers and student volunteers.”

And people think DOGE’s government access and young employees are a problem? At least they are auditing the government, not the taxpayers.

The only reason we even know the truth now is because House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan wouldn’t stop digging.

The IRS initially told Congress it was just “thousands” of files stolen. Then it became “tens of thousands.” Just last month they finally admitted to Jordan that the actual number of records stolen goes in to “hundreds of thousands”.

(And, again, they have only just now begun notifying taxpayers.)

What about consequences for Booz Allen Hamilton, the government contractor that employed Littlejohn while he carried out his scheme?

Not only did they escape any serious repercussions, but the Biden IRS actually rewarded them with even more government contracts.

Booz Allen Hamilton rakes in a staggering $11 billion annually— 98% of its revenue— from government contracts. DOGE is now reviewing this.

Despite the magnitude of this breach, and the betrayal from the government in hiding it from taxpayers, the legacy media has barely covered it.

If a private company had lost this much sensitive data, there would be Congressional hearings, lawsuits, and executives losing their jobs. It would be front page news everywhere.

But when the IRS screws over hundreds of thousands of people with lies and incompetence, it’s just another day in Washington.

This is the swamp working exactly as designed—protecting its own while demanding absolute compliance from you at the point of a gun.

The IRS will hound you over a $1,000 miscalculation, but when they hand over your most private financial data to an activist with a political agenda, it’s met with a shrug, a cover-up, and a new contract for the people responsible.

Simon Black, as James Hickman is more commonly known, is the Founder of Sovereign Man. 

He is an international investor, entrepreneur, and a free man. His daily e-letter, Sovereign Letters, draws on his life, business and travel experiences to help readers gain more freedom, more opportunity, and more prosperity.

Hickman is a lifelong entrepreneur and investor that’s traveled to more than 120 countries on all seven continents. In addition, he’s started, invested in, or acquired businesses all over the world. 

He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in the US Army as an intelligence officer during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Hickman founded a South America-based agriculture company that has become one of the leading producers in its industry. A few years ago, he acquired a prominent retail brand in Australia, purchasing the business from the former 1980s era rock star who founded it. 

His other business ventures have included starting a boutique, private investment bank that boasts some of the highest levels of liquidity and solvency in the world, and investing in companies from Colombia to Uzbekistan. He also serves on numerous Boards of Directors, and previously served as Chairman of company listed on a major stock exchange. 

Writing under the pen name Simon Black, he has also written extensively on business incorporation and tax residency establishment in Puerto Rico, and is a proponent of investing in gold and silver as a hedge against inflation.

He is a also a prolific writer on topics ranging from second residency and citizenship, Golden Visas and portfolio diversification, to estate and retirement planning, asset protection, tax optimization and US Opportunity Zones.

 

www.schiffsovereign.com