The IRS had unlawfully retaliated against two whistleblowers who reported misconduct related to the tax investigation into Hunter Biden, a federal watchdog ruled after an investigation.

A report from the Office of Special Counsel concluded that IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler had illegal gag orders and workplace retaliation placed on them for coming forward in 2023 with damning testimony about the case’s mishandling. The two testified a number of times before Congress, detailing how IRS and DOJ officials slow-walked investigative steps and shielded Hunter Biden from scrutiny.

“At long last, the career nonpartisan staff at OSC responsible for investigating whistleblower retaliation has finally reached some conclusions,” Shapley’s attorney, Tristan Leavitt, wrote in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. “OSC confirmed in a December 30, 2024 email to counsel for the whistleblowers that it found the IRS issued illegal gag orders and improperly removed them from the Hunter Biden investigation as reprisal for their protected disclosures.”

Despite confirming the IRS’s improper actions, the OSC has declined to make a copy of its final report – completed in January – available to the whistleblowers.

Leavitt said that Shapley and Ziegler both still suffer retaliation. Shapley, a highly experienced supervisory special agent, has been passed over for promotion multiple times, and he suffers under a constant barrage of unwarranted scrutiny in his job.

“Meanwhile, SSA Shapley and SA Ziegler continue to suffer daily from ongoing retaliation. Since SSA Shapley came out as a whistleblower, the IRS has also passed him over for several promotions for which he possessed all of the leadership, knowledge, and ability the jobs required,” Leavitt wrote.

To add to the mistreatment, Leavitt reported that, in January 2025, IRS management secretly backdated a request from Shapley related to an ongoing law enforcement operation. It was apparently a cover-up of management’s delays to make it appear that Shapley made a last-minute request instead of submitting it one month in advance.

In a brazen act of retaliation, the IRS tried to force Shapley to accept either a demotion or a complete resignation last October. It was only after congressional Republicans called attention to the agency’s wrongdoing that the move was reversed.

Documents of both Shapley’s and Ziegler’s claims were provided in great detail to the House Ways and Means Committee. Their testimony then became a major component of the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into then-President Joe Biden.

An investigation by House Republicans uncovered that Hunter Biden and his business associates made at least $27 million from foreign sources during and after Joe Biden’s vice presidency. Evidence also showed Joe Biden repeatedly met with his son’s business partners, and Republicans concluded he engaged in “impeachable conduct” by furthering Hunter’s business ventures.

Meanwhile, as the impeachment inquiry unfolded, Special Counsel David Weiss barreled ahead with his federal tax and gun charges against Hunter Biden. In June, Weiss was able to secure conviction in that gun case, and by September, Hunter had pled guilty to tax charges – charges that indeed mirrored the very allegations made by Shapley and Ziegler. Weiss had previously declined to pursue these charges until the whistleblower testimony made the issue public.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers tried to knock out the prosecution, arguing in court that the whistleblowers’ actions warranted dismissal of the case. The argument fell flat and, in a separate move, Biden filed a lawsuit against the IRS, claiming the agency made illegal disclosures. That legal fight is ongoing, with Shapley and Ziegler’s attorneys seeking to intervene to protect their clients’ interests.

In a shocking, highly criticized move, Joe Biden pardoned his son in December — mere weeks before he left office — after previously vowing to stay out of Hunter’s legal troubles. The decision received bipartisan condemnation since it ruled out Hunter’s sentencing on tax and gun convictions.

The sweeping pardon covered Hunter’s actions from 2014 through December 1, 2024, effectively wiping away any consequences tied to his lucrative foreign business dealings. But Joe Biden didn’t stop there. On his final day in office, he issued pardons for his brother Jim Biden and other close family members, shielding them from potential prosecution.

With the OSC’s findings confirming that the IRS acted illegally against Shapley and Ziegler, the question now is whether the agency will be held accountable. The Biden administration might have been in a hurry to silence the whistleblowers exposing corruption, but with ongoing investigations and congressional oversight, the truth is unlikely to stay buried.

How corrupt do you think Joe Biden and his family truly are? Let us know in the comments!