President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is suing the Internal Revenue Service, alleging that its agents illegally released his tax information while also failing to keep his private records protected.
Not only is Biden accusing the IRS of disclosing his tax return information unlawfully, he is also alleging that it did not put safeguards in place to keep his record confidential, according to the filing obtained by NBC News.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Biden is seeking all documents involving the disclosure of tax information, $1,000 for each unauthorized disclosure, and attorneys fees.
The two whistleblower IRS agents, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler were not named as defendants in the lawsuit. However, it was centered around the disclosures they made and their lawyers in statements, congressional testimony, and interviews, CNN reported.
“Despite clear warnings from Congress that they were prohibited from disclosing the contents of their testimony to the public in another forum, Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler’s testimony only emboldened their media campaign against Mr. Biden,” the lawsuit states, according to The New York Times.
The lawsuit then goes on to discuss their testimony before the House of Representatives in July 2023, adding that since then, the agents “have become regular guests on national media outlets and have made new allegations and public statements regarding Mr. Biden’s confidential tax return information that were not previously included in their transcripts before the Committee on Ways and Means.”
Biden’s lawyers point to one specific interview that Shapley had with CBS News in June. During the sit-down, Shapley alleged that Biden made personal expenses as business expenses, including “prostitutes, sex club memberships, hotel rooms for purported drug dealers.” He also alleged that Biden owed $2.2 million in unpaid taxes, the lawsuit says, CNN reported.
“The lawsuit is about the decision by IRS employees, their representatives, and others to disregard their obligations and repeatedly and intentionally publicly disclose and disseminate Mr. Biden’s protected tax return information outside the exceptions for making disclosures in the law,” the lawsuit alleges.
Shapley’s attorneys called the suit “frivolous,” while Ziegler’s said it was an effort to “distract from the ever-growing evidence that supports the testimony of the two IRS whistleblowers.”
The lawsuit comes after Biden was indicted for illegal gun possession following the investigation of special counsel David Weiss. Biden could potentially face additional tax charges from Weiss.
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