IRS agent Joseph Ziegler stepped forward Wednesday as the second whistleblower alleging a coverup in the criminal investigation of President Biden’s son Hunter — calling himself a Democrat who wanted “to do what is right.”
Ziegler worked on the investigation since it opened in 2018 and was joined by his supervisory agent Gary Shapley, who oversaw the probe since January 2020, at a House Oversight Committee hearing.
“I was the lead IRS case agent on the Hunter Biden investigation. I recently discovered that people are saying that I must be more credible because I’m a Democrat who happens to be married to a man,” Ziegler said.
“I’m no more credible than this man sitting next to me due to my sexual orientation or my political beliefs. The truth is my credibility comes today from my job experience with the IRS and my intimate knowledge of the agency’s standards and procedures.”
“I was raised and have always strived to do what is right,” the IRS agent added.
“Although I do have my supporters, others have said that I am a traitor to the Democratic Party and that I am causing more division in our society. I implore you to consider that if you were put in my position with the facts as I have stated them, ask yourself if you would be doing the exact same thing.”
Ziegler added: “I hope I am an example to other LGBTQ people out there who are questioning whether to do the right thing at the potential cost to themselves and others. We should always do the right thing no matter how painful the process might be.”
“I kind of equate this to the feelings and experiences I encountered when coming out,” he said. “It was honestly one of the hardest things I ever had to go through… but I did what is right and I’m sitting before you today.”
Shapley and the case agent say that Delaware US Attorney David Weiss was not able to charge Hunter Biden with tax crimes in Southern California and Washington, DC, because of the opposition of Biden-appointed US attorneys — directly contradicting Attorney General Merrick Garland’s claim that Weiss had unilateral authority to bring charges even outside of Delaware.
Both men say investigative steps were slow-walked or blocked and that authorities tipped off Hunter Biden’s legal team about interest in searching a northern Virginia storage locker that may have contained evidence and about an attempt to interview Hunter in late 2020 — wrecking both attempts.
They also say that a proposal to interview other Biden family members was rejected and efforts to analyze President Biden’s role in his son’s lucrative consulting work in countries where he held sway as vice president were barred by prosecutors at the US Attorney’s Office in Delaware.
Shapley, who has worked at the IRS for 14 years, and his subordinate, who has 13 years of experience, previously were interviewed privately on May 26 and June 1 by the House Ways and Means Committee — weeks before the Justice Department announced a probation-only plea deal for Hunter Biden featuring two tax-crime misdemeanors and a felony gun charge that will be expunged after two years.
Weiss has issued written statements that give the impression he denies the IRS agents’ claims that he lacked independent prosecutorial authority, though subtle differences in terminology mean the question is still open.
The Ways and Means Committee last month released a WhatsApp text message provided by Shapley that Hunter sent to a Chinese business associate on July 30, 2017, invoking his father and threatening retribution if an agreement was not fulfilled — reportedly prompting the flow of about $5 million within 10 days from the Chinese government-linked CEFC China Energy.
The case agent says in his prepared statement that another WhatsApp message sent on Aug. 3, 2017, from a Chinese business associate to Hunter also hints at Joe Biden’s involvement because he offered his “best regards to you, Jim and VP.”
“Jim” is a reference to first brother James Biden, who worked with Hunter on the deal, which at one point had Joe Biden — referred to as the “big guy” — penciled in for a 10% cut. Former Hunter Biden business partner Tony Bobulinski says he met with Joe Biden in 2017 about the CEFC deal.
“I have outlined for you some instances in which assigned prosecutors did not appear to follow the normal investigative process, slow-walked the investigation and put in place unnecessary approvals and roadblocks,” Ziegler said.
“A number of times, we were not able to follow the facts.”
In total, Hunter Biden allegedly bilked Uncle Sam of about $2.2 million in taxes on roughly $8.3 million in foreign income from 2014 to 2019, the tax investigators say.
His guilty plea only references failing to pay more than $100,000 in 2017 and 2018.
