U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent announced Monday that the Treasury Department had canceled all contracts with NoVA-based consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. According to the release, the department had 31 separate contracts with the firm, totaling $4.8 million in annual spending and $21 million in total obligations.
Bessent said the cancelations are a result of the criminal actions by Booz Allen employee Charles Edward Littlejohn. Between 2018 and 2020, Littlejohn “stole and leaked the confidential tax returns and return information of hundreds of thousands of taxpayers. To date, the IRS determined that the data breach affected approximately 406,000 taxpayers,” Bessent said.
Littlejohn has pleaded guilty to felony charges for disclosing confidential tax information without authorization. President Donald Trump was among those affected by the breach.
“President Trump has entrusted his cabinet to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and canceling these contracts is an essential step to increasing Americans’ trust in government,” Bessent said. “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.”
Booz Allen’s Response
In response, Booz Allen said that the company has “consistently condemned in the strongest possible terms the actions of Charles Littlejohn, who was active with the company years ago. Booz Allen has zero tolerance for violations of the law and operates under the highest ethical and professional guidelines.”
However, the company said that government systems were to blame for data breaches. “When Littlejohn’s criminal conduct occurred over 5 years ago, it was on government systems, not Booz Allen systems. Booz Allen stores no taxpayer data on its systems and has no ability to monitor activity on government networks,” the statement said.
According to the company, its staff “fully supported the U.S. government in its investigation, and the government expressed gratitude for our assistance, which led to Littlejohn’s prosecution. We were surprised by this announcement and look forward to discussing this matter with Treasury.”
Feature image, Wirestock/stock.adobe.com
