The IRS agents who came forward with allegations of misconduct in the Hunter Biden tax case are going to receive significant compensation to settle their illegal retaliation cases against the IRS and Department of Justice.
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler gained compensation for damages and a requirement for new training for federal prosecutors as part of their settlements.
Empower Oversight, the whistleblower protection law firm representing Shapley, announced the settlements Thursday.
“We have recently concluded settlement agreements of our claims that the DOJ and IRS illegally retaliated against us for blowing the whistle on the improper politicization of that case,” the whistleblowers said in a statement.
“In addition to substantial compensation for the harm we suffered, the DOJ has agreed to use this example to train all federal prosecutors for years to come, so other brave civil servants are not victimized the way we were.”
The announcement did not specify how much the IRS agents received in compensation.
Shapley and Ziegler filed a lengthy complaint in February with an independent watchdog, the Merit Systems Protection Board, detailing the alleged retaliation from the IRS and DOJ. The IRS agents frequently mentioned the alleged retaliation in media interviews about their experience with the Hunter Biden case.
Another watchdog, the Office of Special Counsel, investigated Shapley and Ziegler’s accusations of whistleblower retaliation. The agency concluded that the IRS improperly silenced and retaliated against the whistleblowers after they testified before Congress about misconduct by IRS and DOJ officials on the Hunter Biden case.
Last year, Shapley faced an ultimatum from the IRS, demanding that he either resign or accept a lesser position. But the IRS backed off the ultimatum due to pressure from congressional Republicans.
Shapley and Ziegler’s explosive allegations, and the documents they produced to substantiate them, became a core element of the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden based on his role in his son’s business dealings.
House Republicans found that Hunter Biden and his associates hauled in $27 million from foreign sources during and after Joe Biden’s vice presidency. The money primarily came from individuals and companies in Ukraine, Romania, and China.
The IRS whistleblowers quickly became the target of attacks from Hunter Biden and his attorney, well-known Democratic defense lawyer Abbe Lowell. Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit accusing the IRS of illegal disclosures in what the whistleblowers considered an attempt to silence them. Biden quietly dropped the lawsuit earlier this year as he struggles financially.
Empower Oversight also announced Thursday a federal judge dismissed Shapley and Ziegler’s defamation lawsuit against Lowell for falsely accusing them of criminal activity.
“Today, a federal judge announced that when Abbe Lowell published that we had committed a ‘clear-cut crime unprotected by any whistleblower statute’ and other similar allegations, he was merely speaking his opinion,” the whistleblower said.
The tax charges Special Counsel David Weiss brought against Biden in California mirrored the recommendations of the IRS whistleblowers. Biden pleaded guilty in September 2024 to nine federal tax charges for failing to pay $1.4 million of taxes in a timely manner across several years last decade.
In the final weeks of his presidency, Joe Biden pardoned his son of federal tax and gun crimes. Joe Biden’s pardon covered all of Hunter Biden’s potential criminal activity from January 2014 to December 2024, making it one of the most sweeping pardons in U.S. history.
For their bravery, the Trump administration promoted Shapley and Ziegler to senior advisers for IRS reform. Shapley briefly became acting IRS commissioner in April during a feud between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and billionaire Elon Musk.
The Trump administration is working to dramatically overhaul the IRS and reduce headcount as part of its broader effort to reform the federal bureaucracy.