CHICAGO (AP) — An IRS whistleblower who publicly testified about investigations into Hunter Biden’s taxes is expected to be promoted to IRS acting commissioner, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
Gary Shapley, an IRS employee who testified before Congress as Republicans investigated Joe Biden’s son’s business dealings, claimed he was retaliated against for cooperating with the investigations.
In March, Shapley was promoted to Deputy Chief of IRS Criminal Investigations, while Joseph Ziegler, another IRS investigator who testified about Biden’s taxes, was assigned to the Treasury Secretary’s office as a senior adviser for IRS reform.
According to sources, the tax collection agency intends to appoint Shapley to one of the agency’s highest-ranking positions on an interim basis, while former Missouri congressman Billy Long awaits a confirmation hearing to lead the agency permanently. They were not permitted to speak publicly about the plan.
President Donald Trump nominated Long, who worked as an auctioneer before serving six terms in the House of Representatives, to be the next IRS commissioner.
Shapley takes over for Melanie Krause, who is resigning as acting IRS commissioner due to a deal to share immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in order to identify and deport people living illegally in the United States. CNN first broke the news about Shapley’s new role.
“Gary is a long-tenured civil servant who has dedicated the last 15 years of his professional life to the IRS,” said a Treasury spokesperson via email on Tuesday. “Gary has demonstrated his honesty and commitment to enforcing the law without fear or favor, even at great cost to his own career. He’ll be a tremendous help to the IRS as we rethink and reform this critical organization.”
According to Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, they were removed from the Hunter Biden case in December 2022 after informing their bosses that the Justice Department and former Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss engaged in a pattern of “slow-walking investigative steps” and delaying enforcement actions in the months leading up to Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election.
The investigation into Hunter Biden concluded with Joe Biden pardoning his son, sparing him a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions, and reversing his previous promises not to use the presidency’s extraordinary powers for the benefit of his family.
Hunter Biden was scheduled to stand trial in California last September in a case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. However, he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in a surprise move hours before jury selection was scheduled to begin.
