Two IRS whistleblowers claimed they were barred from investigating Joe Biden amid the government’s investigation into his son Hunter.
Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler sat down with a veteran journalist Catherine Herridge for an interview in which they claimed that the IRS turns a blind eye when it comes to the country’s powerful elite, whom they call “sensitive people.”
Ziegler said prosecutors specifically told IRS investigators “that they didn’t want to ask about the big guy, because they knew it was Joe Biden.”
The whistleblowers said the IRS, FBI and Department of Justice knew Hunter Biden’s laptop was real, but were not allowed to examine it.
“There were a lot of open investigative steps that we weren’t allowed to take because we had 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 that the IRS turns a blind eye when it comes to the country’s powerful elite, whom they call “sensitive people.”
Ziegler said prosecutors specifically told IRS investigators “that they didn’t want to ask about the big guy, because they knew it was Joe Biden.”
The whistleblowers said they have been punished for speaking out about the IRS’s treatment of Hunter Biden.
“The IRS just has me under a suffocating blanket hoping that I’ll quit, that they’ll find some way to fire me or kill me or something,” Shapley said.
Ziegler, for his part, said he is facing “a machine that has millions of dollars and that has the ability to fight me.”
Still, Shapley and Ziegler said they feel vindicated that Hunter Biden has finally pleaded guilty to the tax crimes outlined 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 have been 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.
“Those are words that are not supported by the agency’s actions,” Shapley said.
He added: “To me, it was someone who knew that the IRS watchdog is looking into the way they’ve handled this and they see the writing on the wall.”
“This is really an example of them covering their asses 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 leading up to the 2020 election that Joe Biden won.
In his testimony, Shapley alleged that the Justice Department delayed its investigation into the president’s son’s taxes, and Ziegler said Hunter “received preferential treatment” during the process.
One of Shapley’s most detailed claims was that U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware, the federal prosecutor who led the investigation, requested special counsel status so he could bring tax cases against Hunter Biden in jurisdictions outside Delaware, including the District from Columbia and California. , but was denied.
Shapley alleged that the Justice Department “moved slowly” in its investigation into Hunter’s taxes during his congressional testimony last year.
Ziegler alleged in congressional testimony last year that Hunter “received preferential treatment” during the process.
Weiss and the Justice Department have denied this, saying he had “full authority” and never attempted to bring charges in other states.
Hunter Biden filed a civil lawsuit against the IRS alleging that Shapley and Ziegler were part of a “campaign to publicly defame” the president’s son.
Shapley was first introduced in 2023 during an interview with CBS News.
Last month, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to misdemeanor and felony tax offenses.
The indictment filed last year arose from an investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes that began in 2018 under the Trump administration.
Prosecutors alleged that Hunter Biden lived lavishly while breaking tax law, spending his money on things like strippers and luxury hotels; “in short, everything except your taxes.”
The charges in both the gun and tax cases arose from a period in Hunter Biden’s life in which he struggled with drug and alcohol abuse before becoming sober in 2019.