Two IRS whistleblowers who blew the whistle on alleged political interference in Hunter Biden’s tax crimes filed on Friday a $20 million lawsuit against Mr. Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell.
IRS investigators Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler accused Mr. Lowell of retaliating against them with “clear malice” when they blew the whistle against his client by making defamatory statements where he alleged that they illegally revealed Mr. Biden’s tax information.
They are each suing Mr. Lowell for $10 million.
In the lawsuit, filed in D.C. district court, the whistleblowers said they were taking legal action “to vindicate their reputations for the incredible and malicious harm they have suffered at the hands of Abbe Lowell.”
“As whistleblowers, Shapley and Ziegler acted with honor and integrity in exposing conflicts of interest, preferential treatment, and political motivations that they reasonably believed were interfering with the criminal tax investigation of Hunter Biden,” according to the court filing.
The duo argued that they “ensured they adhered to all applicable laws” when blowing the whistle on the preferential treatment that Mr. Biden received, but that Mr. Lowell “falsely and maliciously accused Shapley and Ziegler of committing crimes.”
“Namely, the illegal disclosure of grand jury materials and taxpayer return information — despite the fact that they never publicly discussed return information that was not already public,” the filing stated.
The lawsuit included a breakdown of alleged false statements made by Mr. Lowell, including a letter sent on Sept. 14 , 2023, to various congressional committees that Mr. Shapely and Mr. Ziegler claimed to include defamatory accusations that they had violated grand jury secrecy rules and taxpayer confidentiality laws.
In the same letter, Mr. Lowell promised to provide the media with all of the materials discussed in the letter, a promise he made good on.
Mr. Lowell’s letter included an April 21, 2023, letter written by another Biden attorney to the Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General’s Office accusing one or both of the whistleblowers of “leak[ing] information to … the press, apparently in violation of federal law.”
“That very same day Lowell, acting with clear malice — in retaliation for their protected whistleblowing and for the purpose of causing harm to Shapley and Ziegler’s professional and personal reputations — republished all of his legal team’s prior defamatory communications to the media. Thus, Lowell made each false statement a new and distinct act of defamation,” the lawsuit stated.
Last week, Mr. Biden pleaded guilty to nine tax evasion charges after his sweetheart deal with Delaware U.S. attorney David Weiss fell apart after Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler came forward with their concerns.
He faces sentencing on Dec. 16 on a litany of tax evasion and tax fraud charges that carry a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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