Sen. Rick Scott Sues Booz Allen Hamilton Over Leaked Tax Returns

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott filed a federal lawsuit against Booz Allen Hamilton after his tax returns were leaked along with those of other wealthy Americans, including President Trump and Elon Musk. The 25-page complaint, filed Monday in the Middle District of Florida, names the management and technology consulting firm and a former employee as defendants, targeting a company already battered by federal contract cancellations tied to the same breach.

The suit alleges that "the unlawful disclosure of Plaintiff's tax return information was not merely the result of an isolated act," but rather "was enabled by systemic safeguard failures and negligent supervision within the contractor framework under which Booz Allen operated." Scott is seeking various forms of compensation, including "punitive damages" against Booz Allen "for conduct that was willful, malicious, reckless, or demonstrated a conscious disregard" for his rights.

Charles Littlejohn, who performed IRS contract work through Booz Allen, pleaded guilty to unauthorized disclosure of tax information in 2023 and was sentenced to five years in prison. Treasury noted that between 2018 and 2020, Littlejohn "stole and leaked the confidential tax returns and return information of hundreds of thousands of taxpayers." The judge who sentenced him said he pulled off "the biggest heist in IRS history," and the Treasury Department said the data breach affected more than 400,000 taxpayers.

Littlejohn's stolen records fueled several of the most consequential financial news stories of the last decade. Court records and previously published stories reveal that he stole tax returns for President Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and other billionaires and leaked them to the New York Times and ProPublica. Littlejohn gave data to the two outlets between 2018 and 2020 in leaks that appeared to be "unparalleled in the IRS's history," prosecutors said.

Scott's lawsuit arrives as Booz Allen faces widening institutional consequences for Littlejohn's conduct. The Treasury Department cut ties with Booz Allen Hamilton in January and announced that it was canceling $21 million in federal contracts with the consulting giant because one of its ex-employees previously leaked President Donald Trump's tax returns to the press. Booz Allen shares fell by about 10% after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the cancelled contracts.

Scott has been a visible presence in the Littlejohn case before. Scott delivered a victim impact statement at Littlejohn's sentencing hearing in 2024, calling his plea deal "cynical." Before sentencing Littlejohn to the maximum penalty, federal District Judge Ana Reyes called his conduct "an attack on our constitutional democracy."

Booz Allen, for its part, has maintained that Littlejohn's conduct occurred entirely outside its systems. The company previously stated that "when Littlejohn's criminal conduct occurred over 5 years ago, it was on government systems, not Booz Allen systems," adding that "Booz Allen stores no taxpayer data on its systems and has no ability to monitor activity on government networks." Spokespeople for the firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Scott's new lawsuit.

Billionaires Kelcy Warren and Kenneth Griffin had already filed lawsuits over disclosures of their tax information against Booz Allen Hamilton. Scott's filing makes him the most prominent elected official to pursue the firm directly in civil court over the breach, adding congressional weight to an expanding litigation record against a contractor that once billed itself as a trusted steward of sensitive government data.