A man serving in prison for leaking President Donald Trump’s and thousands of others’ confidential tax records recently asserted his Fifth Amendment right to the House Judiciary Committee and declined to testify before the panel, Fox News Digital has learned.

A public defender wrote to the Republican-led committee on behalf of Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor serving out a five-year sentence in Illinois, that because Littlejohn was appealing his sentence, he did not have to testify before Congress.

‘The testimony that you seek from Mr. Littlejohn directly implicates his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination,’ the public defender wrote on Saturday. ‘Mr. Littlejohn validly exercises that Constitutional right in declining to testify.’

The Republican-led House committee is investigating a plea deal Littlejohn reached with the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2023. Littlejohn admitted to prosecutors as part of the plea bargain that he carried out an elaborate scheme to access and disclose Trump’s tax information and the tax returns of thousands of the wealthiest U.S. citizens to the New York Times and ProPublica. 

Among those targeted were Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett.

In return, Littlejohn was charged with and pleaded guilty to a single count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and received the maximum 60-month sentence for the charge.

At the time, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, questioned the wisdom of DOJ’s decision to charge Littlejohn with one charge when thousands had been affected by his actions, saying she was ‘perplexed’ and ‘troubled’ by the plea deal.

‘The fact that he is facing one felony count, I have no words for,’ Reyes said during his sentencing hearing.

Many Republicans also piled onto the Biden DOJ for the perceived leniency of the plea agreement. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said during the sentencing hearing it ‘makes no sense’ and ‘should be called the plea deal of the century.’

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) criticized prosecutors for failing ‘to deter future IRS employees from leaking sensitive taxpayer information.’

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) wrote a letter Tuesday to the Trump administration’s DOJ, obtained by Fox News Digital, requesting all communications and other records surrounding Littlejohn’s prosecution and accusing the prior administration’s DOJ of failing to provide ‘any substantive’ information.

Jordan said he learned from the IRS that Littlejohn’s breach was far more expansive than what had been established in court.

‘After President Trump took office, the IRS disclosed to the Committee that over 405,000 taxpayers were victims of Mr. Littlejohn’s leaks and that ‘89 [percent] of the taxpayers [we]re business entities,” Jordan wrote. ‘While it is now clear that Mr. Littlejohn’s conduct violated the privacy of hundreds of thousands of American taxpayers, it remains unclear why the Biden-Harris Justice Department chose to allow him to plead guilty to only a single felony count.’

A DOJ spokesman declined to comment on Jordan’s request.

On the 36th anniversary of the deadly attack on pro-democracy demonstrators in China’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, jabs exchanged between Washington and Beijing highlight the continued disconnect between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Western democratic values. 

In a statement Tuesday evening, which was Wednesday morning local time in China, Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a statement that said, ‘the world will never forget’ the CCP’s brutal actions as it ‘actively tries to censor the facts.’

‘Today we commemorate the bravery of the Chinese people who were killed as they tried to exercise their fundamental freedoms,’ Rubio said. ‘Their courage in the face of certain danger reminds us that the principles of freedom, democracy, and self-rule are not just American principles. They are human principles the CCP cannot erase.’

But the Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday clapped back at Rubio and accused him of ‘maliciously distort[ing]’ historical facts. 

Chinese spokesman Lin Jian said Rubio had ‘seriously interfered in China’s internal affairs,’ and said Beijing had lodged a formal complaint with the U.S.

The 36th anniversary marks the day Chinese authorities deployed the People’s Liberation Army to stop a weeks-long student-led demonstration that called for greater political freedoms.

Tanks opened fire on unarmed crowds of pro-democracy demonstrators.

The extent of the massacre remains unknown, though hundreds were believed to have been killed, with some estimates ranging as high as 1,000 civilian deaths.

The CCP has since sought to cover up the crackdown by refusing to publicly acknowledge the tragedy, scrubbing online references and barring media coverage of the event.

The communist leadership has acknowledged the anniversary by routinely ramping up security at the square, as well as the entrance to Wan’an Cemetery, where some of the victims of the attack were laid to rest, reported AFP.

Images of security forces lining Tiananmen Square again surfaced on Wednesday, though the square stood relatively empty. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sent an unprecedented letter to a Brazilian Supreme Court justice in May, admonishing the judge for ordering American-based video platform Rumble to restrict the free speech of a user on U.S. soil, describing the orders as international overreach that lack enforceability. 

Rumble, a popular U.S.-based video-sharing platform that bucks censorship efforts frequently found on other video and social media platforms, is at the center of an international battle to protect free speech that has been ongoing for months.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of Rumble in the South American country back in February over claims the U.S. company did not comply with court orders, including removing the accounts of a Brazilian man living in the U.S. and seeking political asylum.

‘If you look at what’s happening around the world, it’s clear we’re living through a perilous moment for anyone who believes in freedom of expression — a fundamental human right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and recognized globally, even by the United Nations,’ Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski exclusively told Fox News Digital Tuesday following the DOJ’s May letter. 

‘The fact that Rumble has become a central player in this global fight for free speech is a powerful validation of our mission. We’re proud to stand at the front lines of this effort and grateful that President Trump and his administration have made this battle a foreign policy priority.’ 

Moraes is now in the U.S. government’s crosshairs after the DOJ sent a letter to him in May outlining his reported international overreach into U.S. law affecting the First Amendment, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealing in a congressional hearing that the Brazilian judge could face U.S. sanctions. 

Moraes had ordered Rumble to remove a user from its platform as he stands accused of spreading false information online and is considered a fugitive in Brazil. Rumble refused and was threatened with financial penalties for the lack of cooperation. 

The DOJ letter, dated May 7 and made public Thursday, argued that Moraes’ orders are not enforceable in the U.S. 

‘These purported directives to Rumble are made under threat of monetary and other penalties,’ the letter, signed by DOJ official Ada E. Bosque, reads. ‘We take no position on the enforceability of the various orders and other judicial documents directing Rumble to act within the territory of Brazil, which is a matter of Brazilian law. However, to the extent that these documents direct Rumble to undertake specific actions in the United States, we respectfully advise that such directives are not enforceable judicial orders in the United States.’ 

The DOJ did not have additional comment to provide when approached about the letter Tuesday. 

Pavlovski described to Fox Digital that the letter is ‘unprecedented’ and draws a clear line to foreign nations that they cannot attempt to thwart U.S. laws and the First Amendment. 

‘The letter from the U.S. Department of Justice to a foreign judge over censorship orders is unprecedented,’ Pavlovski said. ‘It draws a bright red line: foreign officials cannot issue censorship orders that violate the First Amendment or bypass U.S. law. That kind of extraterritorial overreach is incompatible with American sovereignty. And that’s good news, not just for Americans, but for free societies everywhere.’ 

The letter continued that there are established channels for international legal proceedings, which the DOJ said the judge bypassed, and directed the Brazilian judge to various proper procedures he could take regarding the court orders. 

Rumble facing restrictions in foreign nations is hardly new, with the platform currently disabled in China, Russia and France, as well as Brazil. It has also previously received censorship demands in nations such as the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, but has maintained its free speech objective. 

The DOJ’s letter comes as Rubio revealed in a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing in May that the State Department is considering sanctions against Moraes under the Magnitsky Act. The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act authorizes the U.S. government to sanction individuals overseas if determined responsible for human rights abuses or corruption.

‘We’ve seen pervasive censorship, political persecution targeting the entire opposition, including journalists and ordinary citizens,’ Republican Florida Rep. Cory Mills asked Rubio at the hearing in May. ‘What they’re now doing is imminent, politically motivated imprisonment of former President Bolsonaro. This crackdown has extended beyond Brazil’s borders, impacting individuals on U.S. soil., the 2023 Financial Times article actually talked about this. What do you intend to do? And would you be looking at Supreme Court justice sanctioning of Alexandre de Moraes under the Global Magnitsky Act?’

Rubio responded, ‘That’s under review right now, and it’s a great, great possibility that will happen.’

Days later, Rubio posted to X that the State Department will roll out visa restrictions on foreigners found ‘complicit’ in censoring Americans. 

‘For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights,’ Rubio wrote on X. ‘Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans. Free speech is essential to the American way of life — a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority.’ 

‘Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country,’ Rubio added, not naming specific individuals responsible for such actions. ‘Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over.’

Moraes is also overseeing the upcoming trial of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of allegedly attempting to overturn his 2022 election results. 

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva slammed the U.S. for threatening sanctions against Moraes in comment this week. 

‘It is unacceptable for the president of any country in the world to comment on the decision of the Supreme Court of another country,’ da Silva said Tuesday, according to Reuters. 

The Brazilian president added that the U.S. should understand the importance of ‘respecting the integrity of institutions in other countries.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Moraes’ office Tuesday but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is pushing to grant Congress vast new oversight powers over real-time federal spending to pick up where Elon Musk left off with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

A new bill that Roy is introducing on Wednesday would give lawmakers access to Treasury Department invoices larger than $25,000 in real time.

It would also grant lawmakers the ability to see payments to individual recipients of federal benefits and federal employees, according to bill text previewed by Fox News Digital.

It comes roughly a week after Musk announced he was stepping away from his federal government role – followed by his criticism of congressional Republicans’ spending legislation on the way out the door.

‘DOGE lifted up the hood of federal government spending and put on full display the massive programs and inefficiencies wasting American taxpayer dollars,’ Roy told Fox News Digital.

‘Billions were splurged on waste, fraud and abuse – but also on programs that clearly do not align with the core values of the American people. Regardless of which party controls the White House, the mission of DOGE in identifying wasteful spending must continue.’

He said his legislation would give Congress ‘the best tools available to identify this ridiculous spending in real time and allow us to reform government spending well into the future.’

Fiscal hawks like Roy are already looking to the next steps even as Congress begins consideration of a $9.4 billion spending cut proposal sent by the White House on Tuesday. 

The mechanism, known as a rescissions package, gives Capitol Hill 45 days to approve the blockage of funds – which were previously greenlit by Congress – while lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage on it from 60 votes to 51.

The package, which Republican leaders signaled could be the first of several, targets federal funding to NPR, PBS and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

House GOP leaders said that package would get a vote next week.