For This Billionaire, a Rare Apology From the IRS

Agency says it's sorry to hedge fund manager Ken Griffin for tax record leak
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 26, 2024 9:50 AM CDT
For This Billionaire, a Rare Apology From the IRS
Then-Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, left, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, right, look on as Chicago billionaire Ken Griffin speaks in Chicago on April 12, 2018.   (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)

When former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn leaked tax records to the ProPublica media outlet for an article on how affluent Americans tried to keep their taxes low, billionaire Ken Griffin's records were among them. Now, the government agency has issued what CBS News calls a "rare apology" for that leak, to the Citadel hedge fund manager and anyone else affected. "The Internal Revenue Service sincerely apologizes to Mr. Kenneth Griffin and the thousands of other Americans whose personal information was leaked to the press," the IRS noted in a Tuesday statement.

The agency added that Littlejohn had "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 itself "failed to prevent Mr. Littlejohn's criminal conduct and unlawful disclosure of Mr. Griffin's confidential data," it continued. On Monday, Griffin dropped a lawsuit he had filed against the IRS and Treasury Department regarding the breach, which also revealed tax info for Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, among others.

Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that Griffin didn't seek any money for damages or lawyers' fees in the case. The IRS, meanwhile, says it has made "substantial investments in its data security to strengthen its safeguarding of taxpayer information" to prevent future breaches. Griffin's reaction to the mea culpa, in a statement: "I am grateful to my team for securing an outcome that will better protect American taxpayers and that will ultimately benefit all Americans." Littlejohn is serving a five-year sentence in federal prison, with a 2028 release date, though he's appealing his term length. (More Ken Griffin stories.)

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