Minnesota Man, 22, Tried To Hack IRS To Get Trump Tax Returns

ST. PAUL PARK, MN — A Minnesota man and his schoolmate were sentenced after their illegal scheme to obtain Donald Trump's tax returns failed. Justin Hiemstra, 22, of St. Paul Park, Minnesota, and Andrew Harris, 23, of Philadelphia were each sentenced Monday to two years’ probation and 200 hours of community service.

Hiemstra pleaded guilty in August to using a school computer and someone else’s username without that person’s permission in an attempt to illegally obtain then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service.

Harris pleaded guilty to the same charges in September.

These charges arose out of a plot between Harris and Hiemstra, then students at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, to use computers at the school’s computer lab and the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) website to illegally access the tax returns.

In November 2016, Hiemstra and Harris opened a false FAFSA application in the name of a member of the Trump family and found that someone else had already obtained a username and password for Donald Trump, according to federal authorities.

In order to reset the password, the defendants were prompted to answer challenge questions, which the original person had created when setting up the account. The defendants were able to answer the questions and reset the password.

They then used Trump’s personal identifying information, including his Social Security number and date of birth, to attempt to import his federal tax information into the bogus FAFSA application. Ultimately, the attempt failed.

"Hiemstra and Harris thought they could manipulate and outsmart the FAFSA application process in order to obtain Donald Trump’s tax returns for their own purposes. As it turns out, that was not such a smart move: They committed a serious violation of privacy rights and a federal crime in the process," U.S. Attorney William McSwain said in a news release.

"Now they have both been held accountable. And those who complete the FAFSA application, please take note: This Office takes these kinds of cybersecurity breaches seriously, and we are doing everything we can to keep your personal information safe."