IRS whistleblower says DOJ 'slow-walked' Hunter Biden tax probe: report
An Internal Revenue Service whistleblower who alleged prosecutors mishandled an ongoing tax evasion probe into Hunter Biden spoke publicly for the first time and said he felt he had no choice but to go public with the accusations that the probe was stymied.
The 14-year-veteran of the IRS, Gary Shapley, claimed the Justice Department gave special treatment to the investigation in ways he had never witnessed before during an interview with CBS Evening News Tuesday.
“There were multiple steps that were slow-walked – were just completely not done – at the direction of the Department of Justice,” Shapley told CBS News chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod in his first public remarks. “When I took control of this particular investigation, I immediately saw deviations from the normal process. It was way outside the norm of what I’ve experienced in the past.”
The IRS investigator — who was recently removed from the highly sensitive probe in what he believes was an act of retaliation — is scheduled to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee Friday in a closed-door meeting.
Shapley has not said what or who the investigation he oversaw was looking into, but Congressional sources have said Hunter Biden, 53, and his alleged failure to pay taxes on millions of dollars earned from overseas business deals are the subject of the complaint.
Gary Shapley, supervisory special agent with the IRS’s criminal investigations department, is the whistleblower who spoke out about the mishandling of the Hunter Biden tax evasion probe.
Shapley was assigned to supervise the investigation in January 2020 and said v the summer, he grew concerned over how he saw the Justice Department treated the case and certain measures used to seemingly shield the first son.
“Each and every time, it seemed to always benefit the subject,” he said during the CBS News interview. “It just got to that point where that switch was turned on. And I just couldn’t silence my conscience anymore.”
Shapley had expressed concerns about the case being swept under the rug internally for years before bringing his misgivings to the public.
He said the final straw came following a “charged meeting” with Justice Department officials in October 2022 which ended with him and his team being removed from the investigation after years of work.
“It was my red-line meeting,” Shapley told CBS News. “It just got to that point where that switch was turned on, and I just couldn’t silence my conscience anymore.”
Shapley has not named Hunter Biden or discussed the focus of the investigation, but congressional sources said the first son is the subject of the allegedly butchered probe. AP
Hunter Biden has been accused of failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars he earned from overseas business deals. AP
Last month, Shapley’s legal team sent a letter to Congress informing members that the then-unnamed whistle-blower wanted to come forward about “preferential treatment” in the tax evasion probe.
The IRS supervisory special agent said he felt like he had no choice but to become a whistle-blower and added that his action was in no way politically motivated.
“When I saw the egregiousness of some of these things, it no longer became a choice for me,” he told CBS News. “It’s not something that I want to do. It’s something I feel like I have to do.”
To date, no charges have been brought against the first son over his alleged tax evasion.
The Justice Department, the IRS and the US Attorney’s Office in Delaware, which is overseeing the Hunter Biden probe, each declined to comment when reached by the news outlet.
Source: New York Post
