Hunter Biden sues IRS over whistleblowers' 'embarrassing' testimony to Congress

On Monday, Hunter Biden's attorneys filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, accusing a number of agents of having attempted to "target" and "embarrass" him.

Among those named are Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, whistleblowers who testified before the House Oversight Committee and provided statements to the media regarding limitations they faced while investigating the younger Biden's tax case, suggesting that the Department of Justice had gone out of its way to protect him.

According to Fox News, the lawsuit alleges that the IRA, via Shapley, Ziegler, and a host of others, "willfully, knowingly, and/or by gross negligence, unlawfully disclosed Mr. Biden's confidential tax information."

It cites the pair's status as whistleblowers as a fact that "cannot and does not shield them from their wrongful conduct in making unauthorized public disclosures that are not permitted by the whistleblower process."

The first son is asking for the court to affirm the aforementioned statement, and require that the agency pay him $1,000 for "each and every unauthorized disclosure of his tax returns."
 

"Biden is the son of the President of the United States," the lawsuit reads. "He has all the same responsibilities as any other American citizen, and the IRS can and should make certain that he abides by those responsibilities."

"Similarly, Mr. Biden has no fewer or lesser rights than any other American citizen, and no government agency or government agent has free rein to violate his rights simply because of who he is."

The lawsuit goes on to suggest that "the IRS and its agents have conducted themselves under a presumption that the rights that apply to every other American citizen do not apply to Mr. Biden."

Biden was slapped with misdemeanor charges related to his failure to pay federal taxes on over $1.5 million in 2017 and 2018. He nearly reached a sweetheart plea deal in July, but it was dropped when his attorneys were not able to secure a full, blanket immunity for Biden on any future charges.