The Biden-era witch hunt against patriotic IRS agents isn’t over.
Even with Trump back in the White House, the deep state is still trying to destroy the careers of the heroes who exposed Hunter Biden’s sweetheart deal.
And Attorney General Pam Bondi just got one ugly surprise about how her own department is still making false statements about IRS whistleblowers in federal court.
DOJ continues witch hunt against IRS heroes
Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler are the decorated IRS agents who risked everything to tell Congress the truth about political interference in Hunter Biden’s tax case.
Their courage blew up a corrupt plea deal that would have let Hunter walk away with a slap on the wrist.
But instead of being celebrated as heroes, they’ve faced nearly three years of retaliation from their own government.
The Biden DOJ retaliated against them through workplace isolation, case removal, duty reductions, and excessive scrutiny of their work.
Even worse, the DOJ has been spreading lies about them, claiming they illegally leaked Hunter Biden’s private tax information to the media.
Now these patriots are fighting back.
On Wednesday, Empower Oversight – the whistleblower group representing Shapley and Ziegler – filed a response to the Justice Department’s attempt to dismiss their case with the Merit Systems Protection Board.¹
The filing reveals how DOJ lawyers continue making "baseless" and "false statements" about the whistleblowers.
Whistleblowers catch DOJ in outright lies
Here’s where it gets really ugly.
The Justice Department’s motion to dismiss perpetuates a false narrative that Shapley was the source behind a Washington Post article about Hunter’s tax case from October 6, 2022.²
But the whistleblowers’ lawyers just shredded this lie piece by piece.
First, they point out that such a leak would be a serious violation of taxpayer privacy laws, something a career IRS agent like Shapley would never do.
The Washington Post article titled "Federal agents see chargeable tax, gun-purchase case against Hunter Biden" never claimed "federal agents" were their sources, despite the DOJ’s false assertion.
The article only attributed its information to "people familiar with the case", which could just as easily describe Hunter Biden’s own legal team, as the whistleblowers’ lawyers point out.³
In fact, Hunter’s personal attorney Abbe Lowell was the first person to make this bogus claim about the whistleblowers leaking information.
Shapley responded to this false accusation by sending a sworn affidavit to the House Ways and Means Committee in July 2023, completely denying any communication with the Post reporters.
Legal team demands DOJ accountability
The whistleblowers’ attorneys aren’t pulling any punches in their response.
They’re demanding that the Justice Department be officially "admonished" for misleading the Merit Systems Protection Board.⁴
"Agency counsel either knowingly inserted a false statement into their pleading or were careless in a way that conveniently advanced their inaccurate narrative," the lawyers wrote. "Either way, they should be held to account."
Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight, hammered the DOJ’s continued obstruction.
"It’s been nearly three years since DOJ retaliation against these whistleblowers began, more than two years since they were removed from the case, and over two years since they filed with the Office of Special Counsel," Leavitt said. "Now that the Hunter Biden criminal case is over and David Weiss has left DOJ, there is no excuse for the Department to continue dragging its feet. It should work with us to provide a remedy instead of compounding the retaliation."⁵
The real story the deep state doesn’t want you to know
The timing of this continued harassment is no coincidence.
Shapley and Ziegler’s protected disclosures to Congress completely destroyed the Biden administration’s attempt to give Hunter a sweetheart deal.
After these brave agents provided proof of political interference, prosecutors were forced to bring real indictments against Hunter Biden.
He was convicted on multiple tax and gun charges and was facing serious prison time.
Only Joe Biden’s controversial pardons in December saved his son from the consequences of his crimes.
Hunter Biden was so worried about what these whistleblowers revealed that he actually sued the IRS – then quietly dropped the lawsuit earlier this year when it became clear he had no case.⁶
The deep state’s message is crystal clear: expose our corruption and we’ll destroy your career, even if it takes years.
But these patriotic agents aren’t backing down.
Their defamation lawsuit against Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell is still moving forward in federal court in Washington, D.C.
What this means for government accountability
This case represents everything that’s wrong with the permanent bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.
Two decorated federal agents did their jobs, told Congress the truth, and exposed a two-tiered justice system that was protecting the President’s son.
Instead of being rewarded for their integrity, they’ve been subjected to a years-long campaign of retaliation and character assassination.
The fact that this witch hunt is continuing even under the Trump administration shows just how deep the rot goes.
These whistleblowers deserve justice – and the American people deserve to know that career federal employees can tell the truth without having their lives destroyed.
The Merit Systems Protection Board needs to hold the Justice Department accountable for its false statements and provide these heroes with the remedy they deserve.
Anything less sends the message that the deep state can continue to operate with impunity.
¹ Steven Richards, "IRS whistleblowers still facing retaliation from DOJ, accusations of leaking, lawyers say," Just the News, August 13, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
