Treasury Cuts Booz Allen Ties After Trump Tax Leak; Shares Plummet 10%
The U.S. Treasury Department has terminated all contracts with consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton following revelations that a former employee leaked confidential tax records of President Donald Trump and billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk to media outlets.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Monday the cancellation of 31 separate contracts worth $4.8 million in annual spending and $21 million in total obligations, citing inadequate data protection safeguards. Booz Allen's stock price tumbled more than 10% following the announcement."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 in a statement.The decision stems from actions by Charles Edward Littlejohn, a 40-year-old former Booz Allen employee who between 2018 and 2020 illegally accessed and leaked confidential tax information affecting approximately 406,000 taxpayers, according to the Internal Revenue Service.Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October 2023 to unauthorized disclosure of tax return information. He admitted to providing Trump's tax records to The New York Times and wealthy individuals' data to ProPublica. In January 2024, he received the maximum sentence of five years in prison.Booz Allen defended its position Monday, emphasizing that Littlejohn's actions occurred on government systems rather than company networks. "Booz Allen stores no taxpayer data on its systems and has no ability to monitor activity on government networks," the firm stated.The company noted its full cooperation with the government investigation that led to Littlejohn's prosecution and expressed willingness to discuss the matter with Treasury officials.The contract cancellations represent a significant blow to Booz Allen, a major government contractor, and signal the Trump administration's commitment to tightening security protocols around sensitive financial data.Source: CNBC
