President Donald Trump's tax records were ultimately leaked by an IRS contractor. He also leaked thousands of other tax records and ultimately paid the price with a five-year prison sentence.

However, according to Breitbart, former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn is "declining to testify in front of a House Judiciary Committee panel led by Republicans."

Now, as they probe the plea deal that he signed with former President Joe Biden's Department of Justice, Littlejohn is using his Fifth Amendment rights.

The plea deal is under scrutiny by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) and committee Republicans, who said last year that they want Littlejohn to face the maximum penalties for his crimes.

What's going on?

A public defender wrote to the committee on behalf of Littlejohn, explaining that because he's appealing his sentence, he's not required to provide any testimony about his plea deal.

"The testimony that you seek from Mr. Littlejohn directly implicates his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Mr. Littlejohn validly exercises that Constitutional right in declining to testify," the letter from the public defender read.

Charles Littlejohn, the ex-IRS contractor imprisoned for leaking President Trump’s and other high-profile individuals’ tax records, has refused to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, citing his Fifth Amendment rights. The committee is investigating the plea deal he… pic.twitter.com/y3ZLejvKf1

— Badlands Media (@BadlandsMedia_) June 4, 2025

Breitbart reported:

Per the recent Fox article, the committee “is investigating a plea deal Littlejohn reached with the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2023. Littlejohn admitted to prosecutors as part of the plea bargain that he carried out an elaborate scheme to access and disclose Trump’s tax information and the tax returns of thousands of the wealthiest U.S. citizens to The New York Times and ProPublica.”

Part of the problem Republicans have with Littlejohn's punishment is the fact that he leaked over 400,000 tax documents, but was only charged with one count of unauthorized disclosure.

The five-year sentence was the maximum sentence for the single count with which he was charged.

Social media reacts

Users across social media reacted to the news that Littlejohn refused to testify.

"The funniest part is that all he ended up proving was that Trump paid all his taxes correctly and that Democrats and the corrupt media had been lying about Trump's taxes for years," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "Horrible, gutless, and worse, a lefty anti-american. His morality is non-existent."

Only time will tell if Republicans figure out how to increase the penalties he faces.