It looks like a couple of IRS whistleblowers are finally getting some well-earned recognition after being railroaded for daring to expose the truth about Hunter Biden’s tax evasion. The U.S. Treasury Department announced that Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, the two IRS agents who spilled the beans on Hunter’s conveniently overlooked $8.3 million income, are being promoted to Senior Advisor roles. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, part of their new mission is to help “drive much-needed cultural reform within the IRS.”
Now, let’s just pause for a second and appreciate the irony here. The same IRS that tried to ruin these guys’ careers for doing their jobs is now bringing them on board to help clean up the mess? That’s like hiring the fire marshal after trying to burn his house down. But hey, better late than never, right?
A Win For Whistleblowers 🏆
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler, who squashed Hunter Biden’s sweetheart deal on his tax crimes — and then were kicked off the case and ostracized — have been promoted to leadership positions at the Treasury Department.
It is sweet… pic.twitter.com/JzJbBrOOVG
— TheRealCherokeeOwl (@RealCherokeeOwl) March 18, 2025
To recap, Shapley and Ziegler didn’t just stumble upon some minor accounting errors—they uncovered a glaring case of tax evasion involving millions of dollars. They came forward in 2022 with evidence that Hunter Biden had been given the kind of VIP treatment from the IRS that the average American taxpayer could only dream of. Instead of being praised for their integrity, they were slapped with political retaliation. Attempts were made to discredit them, and they were even accused of leaking confidential tax information—because, of course, exposing the truth about the Bidens is apparently a bigger crime than the tax evasion itself.
Even now, Hunter Biden’s legal team is still working overtime to smear these guys. His attorneys went as far as filing a lawsuit against them, claiming they made Hunter’s “confidential” tax details public. Ah yes, because the real problem here isn’t that the president’s son conveniently “forgot” to pay taxes on millions of dollars—it’s that the American people found out about it. It’s almost impressive how quickly the Biden family’s lawyers can turn the tables and play the victim card.
The Treasury Department’s statement on the promotions also included a nod to Senator Chuck Grassley, who has been one of the few voices in Washington actually advocating for whistleblower protections. In a town where bureaucrats would rather silence truth-tellers than deal with corruption, Grassley’s efforts to ensure accountability are a breath of fresh air.
🚨 IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler, who squashed Hunter Biden’s sweetheart deal on his tax crimes, and then were kicked off the case, have now been promoted to leadership positions at the Treasury Department. pic.twitter.com/MLjv9YJDhk
— Merissa Hansen (@merissahansen17) March 18, 2025
So what happens next? With Shapley and Ziegler now working inside the Treasury Department, one has to wonder whether they’ll actually be able to change anything or if this is just a PR move to make it look like the IRS cares about ethics. The agency has a long history of politically motivated decision-making—just ask any conservative nonprofit that tried to get tax-exempt status under the Obama administration. It’s not exactly known for its fairness.
After assurances that no pardon was forthcoming….
The accuracy of the White House statement is also questionable based on our recent interview with IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler.
Listen carefully as Ziegler explains a critical timeline in the IRS felony… pic.twitter.com/1cXVcsWcbV
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) December 2, 2024
But for now, this is a rare win for whistleblowers and a well-deserved slap in the face to the people who tried to silence them. And if this sends a message to future IRS agents that exposing corruption won’t necessarily ruin their careers, then maybe, just maybe, the days of Hunter Biden getting sweetheart deals from the government are numbered.
