IRS whistleblower hits back at attacks from Hunter’s lawyers: Agent slams suggestions he is leaking

An IRS whistleblower accusing US authorities of offering preferential treatment to Hunter Biden in a recent tax investigation has denied that any stories were leaked to the media.

A lawyer for Gary Shapley attacked the First Son legal team for “falsely” claiming to be the source of an October 2022 Washington Post story.

That story said federal investigators had “enough evidence” to charge Biden with tax and gun crimes.

The 14-year veteran of the US Internal Revenue Service has alleged that his investigation into the 53-year-old’s tax affairs was deliberately derailed by DOJ officials.

Shapley has argued that almost three years later they still haven’t received all the data on Hunter’s infamous laptop – which could incriminate not only Hunter but also his father.

Hunter reached a deal to plead guilty to two tax counts and face probation for lying on a federal form to buy a gun, likely avoiding jail time. The deal was criticized by Republicans as a clear show of preferential treatment for President Joe Biden’s 52-year-old son.

Shapley told CBS he was warned to continue investigating Hunter Biden’s lucrative business deals abroad or to investigate possible involvement of the president himself.

It prompted his legal team to release a statement accusing Shapley of regularly spreading stories in the media and calling for a DOJ investigation.

Mark D. Lytle, one of his attorneys, wrote to the two reporters behind the Post’s message, Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, urging them to clear the name of the former tax clerk.

“As you know, SSA Shapley was not a source for you on that story, or any other story for that matter,” he wrote.

“If you had ever given him any non-disclosure agreement, you are hereby released from that promise, so that you may contradict his denial if it were inaccurate. Thus, you are now free to correct Mr. Biden’s attorneys and clear SSA Shapley’s good name of these false and retaliatory allegations,” the letter read.

Hunter Biden ticked a box on a gun purchase form claiming he was not on drugs or addicted — a claim that directly shortened the timeline he describes in his book

“Mr. Biden’s attorneys … have no right to make false and defamatory statements about SSA Shapley,” read the letter, which was also signed by Tristan Leavitt and Jason Foster of the nonprofit transparency group Empower Oversight.

Shapley, and a fellow whistleblower who wishes to remain anonymous, testified for six hours in May before the powerful Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee in Congress.

Tax secrecy laws prohibit him from releasing any information he has from the Hunter Biden investigation, but congressional testimony is protected.

Along with the letter, Shapley’s lawyers also issued an affidavit to Congress stating that he “never leaked any confidential taxpayer information.”

“I was not the source for the October 6, 2022 Washington Post article, nor have I ever had any contact with Barrett or Stein,” the affidavit read.

Shapley also claimed in his testimony that assistant attorney Lesley Wolf discouraged federal investigators from asking questions about Joe Biden.

Hunter Biden struck a deal with Delaware prosecutors last month to plead guilty to willfully failing to pay his federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018.

As part of the deal, the first son will enter into a preliminary diversion agreement for a misdemeanor charge of his possession of a firearm while addicted to illegal drugs.

On Monday, David Weiss, the Delaware U.S. attorney charged with investigating Hunter Biden’s tax returns, hit back at GOP claims that he was orchestrating a campaign against Shapley.

Weiss pushed back in a letter to Republican congressman Jim Jordan that he was trying to retaliate against the IRS whistleblower for suggesting he didn’t have the authority to press charges out of state.

Weiss has angrily denied trying to punish Shapley for speaking out

At the appropriate time, I welcome the opportunity to discuss these topics in more detail with the committee and answer questions related to the whistleblower allegations consistent with the law and Department policy,” Weiss wrote.

But in a joint statement released Wednesday, Jordan was among a number of top Republicans calling for a separate investigation into those allegations.

Senior legislators from the Senate and House of Representatives asked the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to investigate.

“The importance of protecting whistleblowers from unlawful retaliation and informing whistleblowers of their legal rights cannot be underestimated. After all, it is the law,” the lawmakers wrote.

Federal anti-gag provisions prohibit the use of taxpayers’ money to prevent government employees from communicating with Congress or reporting wrongdoing to specific federal agencies.

Any attempt to enforce a confidentiality policy that does not include a whistleblower rights disclaimer is against the law, lawmakers said.