JUST IN: Hunter Biden Sues IRS, Claims Whistleblowers Violated His Privacy by Releasing Tax Info
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File
Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on Monday, claiming that his privacy rights were violated when two agency whistleblowers raised concerns about the investigation into his taxes.
The lawsuit claims that IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler violated the Internal Revenue Code by going before Congress and the media with their complaints that Justice Department officials mishandled the Hunter Biden tax probe. The lawsuit claims Shapley and Ziegler sought to embarrass President Joe Biden’s son by unlawfully releasing his tax information. As such, the IRS violated the Privacy Act by failing to safeguard his private records appropriately.
From the lawsuit, per CNN:
Despite clear warnings from Congress that they were prohibited from disclosing the contents of their testimony to the public in another forum, Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler’s testimony only emboldened their media campaign against Mr. Biden… And finally, since their public testimony before the House of Representatives on July 19, 2023, the agents have become regular guests on national media outlets and have made new allegations and public statements regarding Mr. Biden’s confidential tax return information that were not previously included in their transcripts before the Committee on Ways and Means.
The lawsuit is about the decision by IRS employees, their representatives, and others to disregard their obligations and repeatedly and intentionally publicly disclose and disseminate Mr. Biden’s protected tax return information outside the exceptions for making disclosures in the law.
Shapley and Ziegler have claimed that the Justice Department was going to let Hunter Biden off easily on his tax and gun charges before his plea deal fell apart earlier this summer. Last week, the president’s son was indicted on three federal gun charges for possessing a firearm as a drug user and making false statements.
