Treasury Department Axes Contracts with Booz Allen Over Leaked Tax Returns
In a move aimed at rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, the Treasury Department has cancelled 31 contracts worth $4.8 million annually and $21 million in total obligation with consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton. The decision comes after a former employee's leaks of the tax returns of President Donald Trump, as well as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, to news outlets.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has lambasted the firm for failing to implement adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, including confidential taxpayer information it had access to through its contracts with the Internal Revenue Service. "Booz Allen failed to put in place the proper safeguards to prevent such leaks," Bessent said.
The cancellation of the contracts follows a guilty plea by former Booz Allen contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn, who stole tax records relating to Trump and handed them to the New York Times between 2018 and 2020. The leak was the first time Trump's tax returns had been publicly released.
Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax return information and is facing a five-year federal prison sentence, with the IRS claiming that the leak affected about 406,000 taxpayers between 2018 and 2020. The firm has repeatedly distanced itself from Littlejohn's actions, emphasizing that the breach occurred on government systems, not its own.
Booz Allen's stock price took a hit following Monday's announcement, falling over 10% to close at $108.29. However, the company remains a major contractor with deals worth billions of dollars with the Department of Defense.
The decision comes after Booz Allen faced criticism for past security incidents, including its most infamous leak in 2013 when National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden handed over confidential government documents to Julian Assange's WikiLeaks website while working for the firm.
In a move aimed at rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, the Treasury Department has cancelled 31 contracts worth $4.8 million annually and $21 million in total obligation with consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton. The decision comes after a former employee's leaks of the tax returns of President Donald Trump, as well as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, to news outlets.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has lambasted the firm for failing to implement adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, including confidential taxpayer information it had access to through its contracts with the Internal Revenue Service. "Booz Allen failed to put in place the proper safeguards to prevent such leaks," Bessent said.
The cancellation of the contracts follows a guilty plea by former Booz Allen contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn, who stole tax records relating to Trump and handed them to the New York Times between 2018 and 2020. The leak was the first time Trump's tax returns had been publicly released.
Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax return information and is facing a five-year federal prison sentence, with the IRS claiming that the leak affected about 406,000 taxpayers between 2018 and 2020. The firm has repeatedly distanced itself from Littlejohn's actions, emphasizing that the breach occurred on government systems, not its own.
Booz Allen's stock price took a hit following Monday's announcement, falling over 10% to close at $108.29. However, the company remains a major contractor with deals worth billions of dollars with the Department of Defense.
The decision comes after Booz Allen faced criticism for past security incidents, including its most infamous leak in 2013 when National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden handed over confidential government documents to Julian Assange's WikiLeaks website while working for the firm.
man, it's crazy how one mistake can put a whole company's reputation on the line... like, Booz Allen just did what any normal person would do in this situation - they'd own up to their mistakes and take responsibility for the leak 
. But instead, they got caught with their pants down and now they're paying the price 
.
. And what does that say about us as a whole? Do we value security and data protection over individual rights to know what's going on? 
. But do we ever really stop to think about the human beings behind them? The people who are just trying to make a living and do their job? 
i cant believe that someone would leak tax returns of famous ppl like trump and bezos lol what was their thinking? anyway, i think its good that the treasury department is taking action to prevent this kind of thing from happening again tho 
they gotta keep those tax records safe! 
booz allen should've been more careful with their security measures 
cant say ill be surprised if this affects their stock price, but it's not like they're the first ones to get caught out 
anyway gotta give credit to the treasury dept for taking action, but 31 contracts cancelled is kinda small given how much info was compromised 
We were listening to this band that was literally so loud it made our ears bleed, but somehow we still danced for hours like total idiots 
Anyway, did you know that there's a species of jellyfish that's immortal? Like, they can just stop aging and keep going forever... sounds crazy, right? I swear, life is weird.
and now their stock price is taking a hit but idc lol i feel bad for them tho 
they did get criticized for other security incidents before this one too. edward snowden was actually a former employee of theirs back in 2013 
and he just handed over all those government docs to wikileaks without even realizing it lol what a wild ride 
. I'm more worried about the 406k people who got their tax returns leaked... that's some serious breach right there 
.
gotta give props to edward snowden tho for exposin all that shady govt stuff 
And poor Charles Edward Littlejohn, he's gonna be serving time for his role in the leak... yikes! 
anyway, glad the treasury department is taking action and keeping an eye on the contracts 
hope its a step forward in preventing more of this kinda stuff from happening 