(Maire Clayton, Headline USA) The IRS whistleblowers who killed Hunter Biden’s sweetheart deal were promoted by the Trump administration.
Both agents, Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler, were given elevated positions as senior advisers to the Treasury Department secretary, according to The Washington Times.
The two worked on the Hunter Biden tax evasion case for years before getting removed in December 2022 for bringing it to their bosses attention that the Department of Justice and then-Delaware US Attorney David Weiss were deliberately obstructing their investigation.
Shapley and Ziegler issued a joint statement in response to the promotion.
“It’s never been easy, and there have been more pitfalls than one would hope, but we appreciate the opportunity Secretary Bessent is giving us to utilize our skills and firsthand knowledge of the agency to further the work of the administration to root out waste and fraud from the federal government and make a difference,” the two said.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent also gave a statement Tuesday on the two being given the new role.
“These veteran civil servants join us to help further the agency’s focus on collections, modernization, and customer service, so we can deliver a more effective and efficient IRS experience for hardworking American taxpayers,” Bessent said. “I appreciate Senator Grassley’s efforts in Congress to support whistleblower protections in order to improve transparency, accountability and root out the culture of retaliation.”
Hunter Biden ended up pleading guilty to his California tax charges and was found guilty on his Delaware gun charges. However, former President Joe Biden issued a sweeping pardon for anything Hunter might have done from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 1, 2024.
The president at the time tried to claim Hunter was being unfairly treated, and the charges were only brought about because of his political opponents.
“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Joe Biden said while issuing his pardon. “Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room, with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process.”
