Two IRS agents who came forward last year with bombshell allegations of misconduct in the long-running Hunter Biden tax case are now suing Biden’s lead attorney for $20 million for allegedly defaming them with false statements to the media.
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler filed a lawsuit against high-profile defense lawyer Abbe Lowell in Washington, D.C., each demanding $10 million worth of damages for Lowell’s repeated accusations that the IRS agents committed criminal acts with their whistleblower disclosures.
“Shapley and Ziegler, both experienced and dedicated special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, bring this action to vindicate their reputations for the incredible and malicious harm they have suffered at the hands of Abbe Lowell,” the lawsuit reads.
“Though Shapley and Ziegler remained professional and cautious in their actions, limiting public discussion to what was legally permissible, Biden’s attorney, Lowell, falsely and maliciously accused Shapley and Ziegler of committing crimes—namely, the illegal disclosure of grand jury materials and taxpayer return information—despite the fact that they never publicly discussed return information that was not already public.”
Lowell made the allegations in letters that were published in the media after the IRS agents lawfully disclosed information about the Hunter Biden tax case, a slow-moving criminal investigation both agents spent years working on. Hunter Biden is currently suing the IRS over alleged illegal disclosures by the whistleblowers, who have asked to become part of the lawsuit in order to defend themselves.
National Review has reached out to Lowell for comment.
Shapley and Ziegler first testified to the House Ways and Means Committee last year with allegations that Justice Department officials slow-walked and obstructed investigative steps in the Hunter Biden tax case, protecting the Biden family and allowing possible charges against Hunter Biden to expire for 2014 and 2015. The IRS agents subsequently testified publicly and handed over a trove of documents to the committee to substantiate their testimony.
The IRS whistleblowers fundamentally changed the outcome of the Hunter Biden investigation by coming forward with credible and detailed allegations of misconduct among top officials. In July 2023, Biden’s guilty plea agreement with the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office on two misdemeanor tax offenses, and pretrial diversion agreement for a single gun felony, collapsed in court when Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned the generous deal.
David Weiss, the Delaware U.S. Attorney, became special counsel on the case after leading the Hunter Biden investigation and overseeing the failed plea deal. Weiss, who featured prominently in Shapley and Ziegler’s testimony, was among the DOJ, IRS, and FBI officials to testify about the veracity of the whistleblower allegations.
Witness testimony further corroborated Shapley and Ziegler’s allegations that Justice Department officials gave Hunter Biden special treatment, House Republicans concluded in a report last year. House Republicans investigated the Hunter Biden case as part of the wide-ranging impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and his involvement in his son’s lucrative foreign business dealings.
The impeachment probe uncovered $27 million of payments from foreign sources to Hunter Biden and his business partners, and Joe Biden’s numerous interactions with his son’s business associates. Democrats and Hunter Biden’s defenders in the media routinely dismissed the impeachment inquiry as a partisan witch hunt and downplayed the evidence presented.
As special counsel, Weiss and his team successfully prosecuted Hunter Biden on three criminal gun charges for lying about his drug usage on gun paperwork and possessing a firearm in Delaware when he was addicted to crack cocaine almost six years ago. Biden’s sentencing for the gun offenses is set to take place in November.
Last week, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine criminal tax charges in California instead of standing trial. He said he chose to plead guilty to prevent his family from having to handle another emotionally difficult trial where Biden’s past misdeeds were set to feature prominently.
Federal prosecutors were prepared to take him to trial on tax-evasion offenses due to his alleged failure to pay more than $1.4 million of taxes over a four year period last decade. Lowell represented Biden in the gun case and was set to defend him again alongside prominent criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos.
Before the trial, Biden’s attorneys unsuccessfully attempted to get the case thrown out on the grounds that Shapley and Ziegler committed outrageous government conduct, one of many failed motions to dismiss the case.
The IRS whistleblowers claimed vindication when the tax charges were brought against Hunter Biden in December and Shapley did so again upon Biden’s guilty plea.
“Shapley risked his career for the principle of equal treatment under the law, and now that principle has been vindicated” his attorneys said.
Biden’s sentencing for the tax offenses is scheduled to take place in December.