IRS whistleblowers say they were banned from investigating Joe Biden : ‘We were specifically told not to ask about “the big guy”
Two IRS whistleblowers have claimed they were prohibited from investigating Joe Biden during the government’s investigation into his son Hunter.
Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler spoke to veteran journalists Catherine Herridge for an interview in which they claimed that the IRS looks the other way when it comes to the country’s powerful elite, whom they call “sensitive persons.”
Ziegler said prosecutors specifically told IRS investigators “they didn’t want to ask about the big guy because they knew it was Joe Biden.”
The whistleblowers said the IRS, FBI and DOJ knew Hunter Biden’s laptop was real, but were not allowed to look at it.
“There were a lot of overt investigative steps that we were not allowed to take because there was an election coming up,” Ziegler added.
Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler sat down with veteran journalist Catherine Herridge for an interview in which they claimed the IRS looks the other way when it comes to the country’s powerful elite, whom they call “sensitive persons”
Ziegler said prosecutors specifically told IRS investigators “they didn’t want to ask about the big guy because they knew it was Joe Biden.”
The whistleblowers said they were punished for speaking out about the IRS’s treatment of Hunter Biden.
“The IRS has put a suffocating blanket over me, hoping I’ll quit, that they’ll find a way to fire me or commit suicide or something,” Shapley claimed.
For his part, Ziegler said he is dealing with “a multi-million dollar machine that has the ability to fight me.”
Still, Shapley and Ziegler said they feel vindicated that Hunter Biden ultimately pleaded guilty to the tax crimes detailed in the indictment against him.
The two shared an email they received from their IRS supervisor after Hunter’s conviction, thanking them for their work.
The whistleblowers said they were punished for speaking out about the IRS’s treatment of Hunter Biden
The two shared an email they received from their IRS supervisor after Hunter’s conviction, thanking them for their work
“These are words that are not supported by the agency’s actions,” Shapley said.
He added, “To me, this was someone who knows that the IRS watchdog is looking into the way they handled this and they see the writing on the wall.
“This is really an example of them covering their butts like a real bureaucracy.”
Shapley and Ziegler previously told Congress that there was a pattern of “slow investigative steps” into Hunter Biden, including during the Trump administration in the months before the 2020 election that Joe Biden won.
In his testimony, Shapley alleged that the DOJ had interfered in the investigation into the president’s son’s taxes, and Ziegler said Hunter “received preferential treatment” during the trial.
One of Shapley’s most detailed claims was that U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware, the federal prosecutor leading the investigation, requested special counsel status to bring the tax cases against Hunter Biden in jurisdictions outside Delaware, including the District of Columbia and California. , but was rejected.
Shapley claimed the Justice Department was “slow” in conducting its investigation into Hunter’s taxes during his congressional testimony last year
Ziegler claimed in his testimony before Congress last year that Hunter “received preferential treatment” during the trial
Weiss and the Justice Department have denied that, saying he had “full authority” and never tried to file charges in other states.
Hunter Biden filed a civil lawsuit against the IRS, claiming Shapley and Ziegler were part of a “campaign to publicly smear the president’s son.”
Shapley first came forward in 2023 during an interview with CBS News.
Last month, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to misdemeanor and misdemeanor charges.
The charges filed last year stemmed from an investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes that began in 2018 under the Trump administration.
Prosecutors alleged that Hunter Biden lived a lavish life while flouting the tax code and spending his money on things like strippers and luxury hotels — “in short, everything except his taxes.”
The charges in both the gun and tax cases stemmed from a period in Hunter Biden’s life when he struggled with drug and alcohol abuse before getting sober in 2019.