IRS bows to James Comer and Jim Jordan's Demands to Halt Disciplinary Measures Against Hunter Biden Whistleblower

The House Oversight Committee announced on Wednesday that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) bowed to demands made by its chairman, Rep. James Comer, as well as his counterpart in the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, regarding disciplinary measures against an official they described as a whistleblower in an investigation on the son of President Joe Biden, Hunter.

The lawmakers sent a letter to the agency last week over procedures against IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and Special Agent Joseph Ziegler, whose "lawfully protected disclosures to Congress," they said, "have resulted in unrelenting personal and professional attacks by the IRS."

"Just this week, Gary Shapley's attorney revealed that approximately one hour after his and Mr. Ziegler's interview with journalist Catherine Herridge was released, in which they discussed damaging evidence of the IRS's disparate treatment of U.S. taxpayers, the IRS issued Shapley a 15-day notice to either accept a demotion or resign," the GOP Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Comer, said in a publication on X back then.

The letter was making reference to an interview in which Shapley said the "IRS just has a smothering blanket over me." "They're hoping that I quit, that they find some way to terminate me. Or they probably hope I commit suicide or something."

Ziegler and Shapley claimed last week that they were banned from investigating President Joe Biden as part of the probe into his son Hunter. The former said prosecutors specifically told IRS investigators "that they didn't want to ask about the big guy, because they knew it was Joe Biden." "There were a lot of overt investigative steps that we were not allowed to take because we had an upcoming election," he added.

As a result, Comer, Jordan and Rep. Jason Smith called the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to provide an update on their claims and halt disciplinary proceedings against them. The letter, addressed at Acting Principal Deputy Special Counsel Karen Gorman, claims the officials revealed how "the IRS treats individuals differently based upon their last names." A week later, and after Donald Trump's victory in the presidential elections, the committee said the IRS has agreed to "temporarily pause its latest threatening action against Gary Shapley."

"We won't stop fighting for these brave whistleblowers, who exposed misconduct and politicization in the federal criminal investigation of Hunter Biden," the body concluded.