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The U.S. Treasury Department has cut its contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton, after a former contractor who worked for the firm was charged and subsequently imprisoned for leaking tax information to news outlets about thousands of the countrys wealthiest people, including President Donald Trump. The latest move is in line with Trump administration efforts to exact retribution on perceived enemies of the president and his allies despite Booz Allen’s recent contributions to Trump’s ballroom project, expected to cost more than $400 million. Still, Booz Allen, which is a major defense and national security technology firm, maintains extensive government contracts with other agencies, including the Defense Department, Homeland Security, and various intelligence agencies. In 2024, former IRS contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn of Washington, D.C. who worked for Booz Allen was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking tax information about Trump and others to news outlets. Littlejohn gave data to The New York Times and ProPublica between 2018 and 2020 in leaks that appeared to be unparalleled in the IRSs history, prosecutors said. In court documents, prosecutors said Littlejohn had applied to work as a contractor to get Trumps tax returns and carefully figured out how to search and extract tax data to avoid triggering suspicions internally. Treasury says the agency has 31 contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton totaling $4.8 million in annual spending and $21 million in total obligations. The firm is headquartered in McLean, Va. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that the firm 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. Brian P. Hale, a Booz Allen spokesperson, said the firm has consistently condemned Littlejohn’s actions and has zero tolerance for violations of the law. Booz Allen fully supported the U.S. government in its investigation, and the government expressed gratitude for our assistance, which led to Littlejohns prosecution, Hale said. “We look forward to continuing discussions with Treasury on this matter. Booz Allen says it doesn’t store taxpayer data on its systems and has no ability to monitor activity on government networks. Shares of the firm, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange, were down from $102 per share on Friday to $91 and falling on Monday after the announcement. The firm’s latest quarterly filing with the SEC, for the period ending Dec. 31, states that major risks to the firm include “any issue that compromises our relationships with the U.S. government or damages our professional reputation, including negative publicity concerning government contractors in general or us in particular.” Fatima Hussein, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
The post-commute changing from sneakers to office-friendly pumps is something well-known to many workers. But could it become a thing of the past? At a growing number of startups and tech offices, workers are taking some of the comforts gained from work-from-home days and leaving behind their shoes. No shoes at Cursor NYC, angel investor Ben Lang posted on social media in October, showing a pile of shoes at the AI companys entrance. Wholly dedicated to the cause, Lang has created the website noshoes.fun, a no-shoes office directory for those who feel equally passionate about having their feet get some fresh air during the work day. Among the 21 companies listed are small startups, where a founding team works out of someones house, and taking off your shoes is simply common courtesy. Others are large: like productivity app company Notion, who adopted a no-shoes policy in their HQ until around four years ago, or AI-powered QA Spur, who offer branded slides upon arrival at their office in Manhattan. Responses to Langs post were mixed. Oh dear, one user wrote. Imagine the smell. Are there slippers for the bathroom??? wrote another. Another: Imagine bringing round a client. The shoeless office is growing in popularity, as an unconventional approach to improve focus and create a comfortable environment as more workers return to the office. The trend has since made it across the pond, as the Guardian recently reported, with some British companies taking their cues from Americas West Coast as a way to improve focus, comfort and even staff morale. Shoeless offices might sound like a gimmick. But who knows? With record levels of burnout (76% of U.S. workers reporting at least one mental health condition), anything that can help the office feel a little bit more like home could have an impact on morale. Of course, regardless of being a cute workplace trend, taking off outdoor shoes inside is widespread across countless cultures the world over. It is common courtesy to remove your shoes upon entering the home in countries like Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries. In Muslim households, shoes are left at the door as a sign of respect. In Japan, taking shoes off and switching to slippers to wear inside is extremely common in schools and in many places of business; taking them off in peoples homes is standard practice. It also has pop cultural precedent. Recall Alexander Skarsgrds Succession character, tech mogul Lukas Matsson, walking sans-shoe between private jets in the shows final season. Or Bert Cooper in Mad Men striding around his Manhattan advertising agency in socked feet. Many amongst us will have been guilty of slipping off a particularly uncomfortable pair of wingtips under the work desk at one time or another. And as the pendulum swings back on work-life balance, and the 9-5 is replaced by a 996 grind mentality, particularly among AI startupsthe very least you can be is cozy while working a 72 hours work week.
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E-Commerce
A federal judge began hearing arguments Monday on whether she should halt, at least temporarily, the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that has led to the fatal shootings of two people by government officers. The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer. The shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol officer on Saturday added urgency to the case. In other developments, President Donald Trump said he had a very good call with Minnesota Gov. Walz about the latest Minneapolis shooting and that they are now on a similar wavelength. It was an abrupt shift from Trump, who frequently derides Walz for his actions on immigration issues in Minnesota. During arguments before U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, lawyers for the state and the Twin Cities argued that the situation on the street is so dire as to require the court to halt the federal government’s immigration enforcement actions. If this is not stopped right here, right now, I dont think anybody who is seriously looking at this problem can have much faith in how our republic is going to go in the future,” Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said. The Justice Department’s attorneys were set to speak later Monday. Menendez asked attorneys for the state and the cities where she should draw the line between a legitimate law enforcement response and one that violates the Constitution. She questioned whether the state and city arguments would require her to decide policy differences between the president and Minnesota. Trump also said he would send border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota. The president’s statement comes after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who has become the public face of the crackdown, answered questions at news conferences over the weekend about Pretti’s shooting. Trump posted on social media that Homan will report directly to him. Since the original court filing, the state and cities have substantially added to their request in an effort to restore the conditions that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota on Dec. 1. The lawsuit asks the judge to order a reduction in the number of federal law enforcement officers and agents in Minnesota back to the level before the surge and to limit the scope of the enforcement operation. Justice Department attorneys have called the lawsuit legally frivolous and said Minnesota “wants a veto over federal law enforcement. They asked the judge to reject the request or to at least stay her order pending an anticipated appeal. Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during a news conference Sunday that the lawsuit is needed because of the unprecedented nature of this surge. It is a novel abuse of the Constitution that were looking at right now. No one can remember a time when weve seen something like this. It is unclear when the judge might rule. The case has implications for other states that have been or could become targets of ramped-up federal immigration enforcement operations. Attorneys general from 19 states plus the District of Columbia, led by California, filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Minnesota. “If left unchecked, the federal government will no doubt be emboldened to continue its unlawful conduct in Minnesota and to repeat it elsewhere, the attorneys general wrote. Menendez ruled in a separate case on Jan. 16 that federal officers in Minnesota cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including people who follow and observe agents. An appeals court temporarily suspended that ruling three days before Saturdays shooting. But the plaintiffs in that case, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, asked the appeals court late Saturday for an emergency order lifting the stay in light of Pretti’s killing. The Justice Department argued in a reply filed Sunday that the stay should remain in place, calling the injunction unworkable and overly broad. In yet another case, a different federal judge, Eric Tostrud, issued an order late Saturday blocking the Trump administration from destroying or altering evidence related to Saturday’s shooting. Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty asked for the order to try to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Monday afternoon in federal court in St. Paul. The fact that anyone would ever think that an agent of the federal government might even think about doing such a thing was completely unforeseeable only a few weeks ago,” Ellison told reporters. But now, this is what we have to do. ___ This story has been corrected to show the judges name is Katherine Menendez, not Kathleen. Steve Karnowski, Associated Press Associated Press reporter Jack Brook contributed to this article.
Category:
E-Commerce
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