House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith sent a letter Monday to the IRS commissioner demanding he provide a detailed plan on how the agency will protect taxpayers’ private information after a former IRS contractor leaked former President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the letter to Commissioner Daniel Werfel which mentions Charles Edward Littlejohn, the former IRS contractor who pleaded guilty in October to leaking Trump’s tax returns and more tax data to media outlets. In the letter, Smith asks for answers to several questions regarding the leak and what the IRS plans on doing so it does not occur again.
“The IRS has continually proven it cannot be trusted to safeguard taxpayers’ private information, and the responsibility now falls to Congress and the Ways and Means Committee to ensure the agency does its job, complies with the law, and protects American taxpayers. Commissioner Werfel must provide Congress with a plan showing how the IRS will prevent current and future IRS employees from following the lead of Charles Edward Littlejohn and disclosing taxpayer information to further one party’s political agenda,” Smith told the Caller before sending the letter. (RELATED: Rep. Jason Smith Fights Hunter Biden’s Effort To Keep IRS Whistleblower Materials Sealed From Delaware Case)
HERE IS WHAT SMITH ASKS IN THE LETTER:
- How many employees had access to federal tax information before the previously mentioned changes were made? a. How many employees currently have access to federal tax information.
- How many IRS contractors had access to federal tax information before the previously mentioned changes were made? a. How many IRS contractors currently have access to federal tax information.
- Describe the efforts taken and amount of money spent by the IRS to implement the following measures: a. Ensuring all system accesses are appropriately authorized and tracked via enterprise management. b. Fortifying auditing and logging of all IRS systems containing FTI and/or PII. c. Reducing the number of agency staff and contractors who have access to sensitive information. d. Installing the new firewall between infrastructure and the rest of the IRS. e. The stronger 24/7 monitoring using advanced analytics used to detect and prevent risky data usage.
- What additional steps is the IRS taking to close the loopholes exposed by the theft of taxpayer information and leak of that information in 2020 and 2021?
- What additional steps is the IRS taking to determine whether it has additional system vulnerabilities that need to be addressed?
READ THE LETTER HERE:
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
“The Department of Justice’s weak prosecution of Littlejohn will unfortunately do little to discourage future leaks at the IRS, so it is vital the agency take swift and robust action to protect taxpayers and close loopholes exposed by previous thefts of taxpayer information. The Ways and Means Committee will continue our oversight of the agency and demand implementation of these vital safeguards,” he added. (RELATED: Top GOP Rep Calls On More Whistleblowers To Come Forward, Pledges ‘Zero Tolerance’ For Retaliation)
Smith called for his questions to be answered no later than January 22.