In a significant development, two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, have initiated a substantial defamation lawsuit against Abbe Lowell, the attorney of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son.
The lawsuit was filed on Friday, seeking a combined $20 million in damages for alleged defamatory statements that inflicted "incredible and malicious harm."
According to the Daily Caller, Shapley and Ziegler, both IRS agents, had previously testified before Congress in May and June 2023. They claimed that officials in President Biden's Department of Justice (DOJ) had shown favoritism towards Hunter Biden during an investigation into his taxes and foreign business dealings. The whistleblowers, who also provided additional information about Hunter Biden's business activities and laptop, are now taking legal action against Lowell in federal court.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, states, "It is particularly ironic and damaging that a well-known attorney like Lowell in his words, one of the countrys foremost white collar defense and trial lawyers that is widely viewed as counsel of choice for individuals facing government investigations and potential indictments has chosen to falsely accuse these special agents of criminal behavior." The whistleblowers argue that Lowell's standing and credibility in the legal community have exacerbated the harm caused by his alleged defamatory statements.
The lawsuit accuses Lowell of defaming the whistleblowers by falsely and maliciously asserting that they had breached grand jury secrecy rules and taxpayer protection laws. The complaint also alleges that these defamatory statements were further amplified by the media. As a result, Shapley and Ziegler are each seeking $10 million in damages from Lowell.
The whistleblowers' most notable allegations include claims that the Biden DOJ initially denied Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss expanded charging authority. They also alleged that the Biden presidential transition team was informed in advance about plans to interview Hunter Biden and that DOJ lawyers declined to collaborate with Weiss on the case.
In June 2023, Shapley disclosed a text message that Hunter Biden appeared to have sent to a Chinese business associate in July 2017. In the message, Hunter Biden stated that he was "sitting here with [his] father" awaiting the fulfillment of an unspecified "commitment." Shapley also claimed that the FBI had authenticated Hunter Biden's laptop in November 2019, long before it became the subject of a New York Post story that was effectively censored by social media companies on the grounds that the laptop's contents could be part of an elaborate Russian plot to disrupt the 2020 election.
The whistleblowers' complaint highlights Hunter Biden's recent decision to plead guilty to several federal tax charges in California as evidence that their concerns about a politicized investigation were justified. The complaint asserts, "Though the Biden investigation was almost derailed, their efforts resulted in a new level of attention that led to criminal charges, and Biden has now pleaded guilty to all the charges of tax crimes brought against him." This development underscores the whistleblowers' allegations and the potential consequences of political interference in justice.
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