When an Internal Revenue Service contractor embarrassed the agency by leaking confidential information in 2019, attention focused on Donald Trump, who had broken presidential campaign tradition by not revealing his tax records.

But the potential damage went far beyond the president and a few other wealthy Americans whose IRS files were leaked to the New York Times and ProPublica. The leak fueled stories showing how Trump and other mega-wealthy Americans for years paid little or no income tax.

The theft also revealed the private tax data of more than 80,000 people and businesses. That further exposed long-standing IRS cybersecurity shortcomings, a problem plaguing much of government.

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