Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit Monday accusing the IRS of “repeatedly and intentionally” disclosing his tax returns and failing to protect the confidentiality of his tax documents.
President Biden’s son is asking a court to declare that the IRS unlawfully leaked his tax records. He is seeking all documents relating to the disclosure of his tax information and an award of $1,000 in damages for each unauthorized disclosure.
Days earlier, Hunter Biden was indicted on three criminal counts related to the possession of a handgun while under the influence of illegal drugs.
Hunter Biden reached a deal with prosecutors that would have spared him prison time if he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax charges and entered a pretrial diversion program on the gun counts. The agreement collapsed under scrutiny by a federal judge during a dramatic court hearing in July.
The 27-page lawsuit, filed in the District of Columbia, singles out IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. Although the agents are not named as defendants, Hunter Biden’s attorneys say they were “engaging in a campaign to publicly smear Mr. Biden” by disclosing his tax information in more than 20 televised interviews, public statements and congressional testimony.
“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,” Hunter Biden’s attorneys wrote.
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The IRS said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Mr. Shapley’s attorneys issued a statement denying any wrongdoing.
“The suit against the IRS is just another frivolous smear by Biden family attorneys trying to turn people’s attention away from Hunter Biden’s legal problems and intimidate any current and future whistleblowers,” they said in a statement released through Empower Oversight, an organization representing Mr. Shapley.
“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.”
Attorneys for Hunter Biden said Mr. Ziegler and Mr. Shapley “have targeted and sought to embarrass” the first son by “disclosing confidential information about his private tax matters to the media.”
The lawsuit said the two agents’ whistleblower status does not shield their “wrongful conduct in making unauthorized public disclosures that are not permitted by the whistleblower process.”
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“In fact, a ‘whistleblower’ is supposed to uncover government misconduct, not the details of that employee’s opinion about the alleged wrongdoing of a private person,” the lawsuit states.
Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler went public this year with allegations that the Biden administration interfered with the IRS investigation into Hunter Biden’s alleged tax crimes.
In testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, the two IRS agents said the government covered up the alleged tax crimes and spelled out what they said was far-reaching corruption that hampered the investigation.
They said the IRS was “slow-walking investigative steps” into Hunter Biden and that the prosecutor leading the investigation, U.S. District Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, was denied the authority to bring charges in other jurisdictions.
Mr. Weiss and the Justice Department denied that he was blocked from bringing charges outside Delaware. Last month, Mr. Weiss requested and received special counsel status, giving him the authority to detail his findings in a report and file criminal charges against Hunter Biden in other jurisdictions. His team has indicated in court filings that they may file more tax charges in the District of Columbia or California.
Federal prosecutors said during a July court hearing that Hunter Biden blew off significant tax obligations for 2017 and 2018. They said Hunter Biden had an income of $4.4 million for those two years and owed $1.2 million to $1.6 million in taxes on that income.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Wise said during the hearing that Hunter Biden’s exact tax bill for those two years remains uncertain because the IRS is still investigating what he called “improper business deductions.”
Hunter Biden’s attorney Christopher Clark said his client mistakenly mixed up his personal and business expenses.
Hunter Biden admitted that he was delinquent on his tax obligations in 2016 and 2019, though he was not criminally charged for those years. An unidentified “third party” paid $2.6 million to the IRS in October 2021 to settle Hunter Biden’s tax obligations, including penalties and interest for 2016 through 2019. Hunter Biden told the judge that the money was a loan but he is not currently making payments.
Hunter Biden’s earnings came from several sources, including a salary as a board member of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings. He made an estimated $11 million from Burisma from 2013 through 2018, according to documents released by Senate Republicans.
He also earned millions of dollars from Chinese investment and energy companies and an unidentified Romanian business.
Prosecutors said he spent the money just as quickly as he earned it by doling out millions of dollars for legal fees, travel, entertainment and a Porsche while in the throes of drug addiction.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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