The IRS special agents who made protected disclosures on the preferential treatment that the Biden administration was giving the president’s son, Hunter Biden, during an investigation into his tax returns, will be promote to leadership positions and become the senior advisors to the Secretary of the Department of Treasury. The announcement was made by Senator Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley has been a champion for the whistleblowers since they made protected disclosures to Congress.
Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley is being promoted to Deputy Chief of IRS Criminal Investigations and assigned to the Treasury Secretary’s office as a senior advisor for IRS reform. Special Agent Joseph Ziegler is receiving a promotion and is also being assigned to the secretary’s office as a senior advisor for IRS reform.
The whistleblowers, who will begin work in the secretary’s office immediately, praised Secretary Scott Bessent and Grassley for their work to ensure the whistleblowers find space within the agency to ensure they are not further retaliated against.
Statement by Gary Shapley, supervisory special agent, and Joseph Ziegler, special agent
“We are enormously grateful to Secretary Bessent and Senator Grassley and all of the members of Congress for their leadership. We have been motivated by one singular mantra: do what’s right. 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.”
Statement by Tristan Leavitt and Jason Foster of Empower Oversight, attorneys for Gary Shapley
“Gary and Joe have never been motivated by accolades, just an underlying desire to do what was right. This opportunity provided to them by Secretary Bessent will allow them to use their deep skill set and understanding of how the IRS works from top to bottom to help solve some of the ingrained issues within the agency. Secretary Bessent should be applauded for his willingness to step up and bring these two courageous whistleblowers into leadership positions within the agency. Senator Grassley has never wavered from his support of Gary and Joe, and we appreciate everything he and chairmen Smith, Comer and Jordan have done to ensure that they are able to use their skills to assist the administration.”
