Hunter Biden sues IRS for allegedly disclosing private information, targets whistleblowers

Hunter Biden on Monday sued the Internal Revenue Service for the alleged "unlawful disclosure" of his private tax information in a lawsuit that targets IRS whistleblowers who said the Justice Department interfered with their tax probe of the first son. 

"While Mr. Biden has been the victim of various leaks regarding the IRS investigation previously, most recently, two IRS agents – Mr. Gary Shapley and Mr. Joseph Ziegler – and their attorneys raised the stakes to unprecedented levels with their numerous public appearances and statements," the 27-page lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that Ziegler, Shapley and their attorneys "have targeted and sought to embarrass Mr. Biden via public statements to the media in which they and their representatives disclosed confidential information about a private citizen’s tax matters."

The lawsuit only names the IRS – not Ziegler, Shapley or their legal representatives – and it alleges that the IRS violated two U.S. laws related to privacy.

Biden is demanding damages of "$1,000 per each act of unauthorized disclosure," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that Shapley, Zeigler and their representatives "chose to publicly disclose the confidential return information during interviews with national media outlets, including Fox News, CNN, CBS News, John Solomon Reports, and the Megyn Kelly Show, with the intent that these national media outlets would widely publish the information through its nationally and internationally televised news network, website and other means."

The lawsuit cites four different interviews Shapely, Zeigler and their attorneys had with Just the News editor-in-chief John Solomon since April.

After coming forward with the information, the IRS agents were removed from the Biden tax probe. The first son reached a plea deal with prosecutors on two misdemeanor tax charges, but the deal fell apart in July after a judge expressed concerns about its constitutionality.

"This suit against the IRS is just another frivolous smear by Biden family attorneys trying to turn people’s attention away from Hunter Biden’s own legal problems and intimidate any current and future whistleblowers," Shapley's legal team told Just the News. "The federal judge in Delaware who oversaw the aborted plea deal shot down similar claims against the whistleblowers after they exposed the secret backroom deal between Hunter Biden and the Department of Justice. Neither IRS SSA Gary Shapley nor his attorneys have ever released any confidential taxpayer information except through whistleblower disclosures authorized by statute. Once Congress released that testimony, like every American citizen, he has a right to discuss that public information."

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