A whistleblower inside the Internal Revenue Service spoke publicly for the first time about a highly sensitive political investigation he oversaw, which CBS News identified is the ongoing investigation into the finances of Biden’s son Hunter Biden.
He said he had become so concerned about prosecutors’ handling of a “high-profile and controversial” investigation that he felt his duty to sound the alarm.
“There were multiple steps that were going slowly — not quite done — at the direction of the Justice Department,” said Gary Shapley, a 14-year veteran of the agency, who spoke exclusively to CBS News investigative reporter Jim. Axelrod on Tuesday. “When I took control of this particular investigation, I immediately saw deviations from the normal process. It was so far from the norm that I had experienced in the past.”
The charges come more than three years later Investigating Hunter Biden It is being conducted in Delaware by the US Attorney General appointed by then-President Trump and detained by President Biden to avoid any manifestation of political bias. The investigation focuses on possible crimes related to outstanding tax debts linked to income earned from a controversial stint as a board member of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma when his father was vice-president, and a possible false statement related to a gun purchase. last year CBS News reported That back taxes were paid off with a loan from high-profile Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris, who provided financial support to Hunter Biden.
Six months ago, an FBI leak revealed that agents there believed they had provided prosecutors with enough evidence to support criminal tax charges. No such charges had been brought as of this post.
Shapley told CBS News he had become increasingly concerned about actions taken that he said appeared to protect the target of the investigation — which CBS News independently confirmed was Hunter Biden.
“Each time, he always seemed to make the point,” Shapley said. “I just got to that point where that switch was turned on. And I couldn’t silence my conscience anymore.”
Shapley is a Supervisory Special Agent with the Criminal Investigations Division of the IRS, currently overseeing a team of 12 agents specializing in international tax and financial crimes. Previously, he was an officer in the Office of the Inspector General of the National Security Agency. He was assigned a “sensitive” investigation in January 2020, and within months, he says, he became concerned about the way the Justice Department was handling the investigation. CBS has learned this was the Hunter Biden investigation. Shapley says he began documenting his concerns around June 2020.
“For a few years,” he said, “we’ve been noticing these anomalies in the investigative process. And I couldn’t, you know, comprehend that the Department of Justice might act unethically about this.”
Ringing alarms
The existence of a whistleblower inside the Hunter Biden investigation became known last month after one of Shapley’s attorneys, Mark Little, wrote to Congress seeking legal protection for his client, who was maintaining anonymity at the time. Without those protections, Shapley said he could not share anything about the taxpayer investigation — including the identity of the subject — without breaking tax secrecy laws.
Shapley is scheduled to appear before members of the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday, but his testimony will not be open to the public.
CBS News obtained a letter that Shapley’s lawyers sent last week to the Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency dedicated to helping government whistleblowers. The letter alleges “irregularities” in the Justice Department’s handling of the case, and cites a “charged meeting” Shapley’s team had with Justice Department prosecutors last October. According to the letter, after that meeting, Chapley’s team was effectively removed from the investigation. Shapley did not say whether he had informed prosecutors of his concerns but acknowledged that the incident prompted him to blow the whistle.
“My meeting was the red line,” Shapley said. “I just got to that point where that switch was turned on, and I couldn’t silence my conscience anymore.”
In his April letter to Congress, Lytle said Shapley had previously filed whistleblowing disclosures with the IRS, the Treasury Inspector General for the Tax Administration, and the Justice Department inspector general. He also wrote that his client would contradict sworn testimony “by a high-ranking political official.” In his interview with CBS News, Shapley declined to identify the sworn testimony or name the political appointee.
Washington whistleblower
In recent months, House Republicans have introduced federal officials who they say are blowing the whistle on perceived political interference from within the Justice Department on other matters. The effort to highlight these concerns is the result of the recently created subcommittee on “weaponizing” government by the House Judiciary Committee. Democrats have questioned the legality of the allegations, and MD Stacy Plaskett, a Democrat representing the US Virgin Islands, referred to the subcommittee as “political stunt”.
Shapley told CBS News that he didn’t take any money from anyone for the decision to move forward. His legal efforts are being aided by a nonprofit whistleblower advocacy group with staffers who have previously worked with Republicans in Congress, and he is a registered Republican. But he said he was never politically active. He says he has not made any political donations nor been involved in political campaigns.
He said, “I’m not involved in any of this stuff.” “It’s not what I want to do. I’m simply not a political person. This is a job, and I swear my position is to treat everyone fairly until we investigate.”
Perhaps Chapley was already paying the price for his decision to speak out. Last week, his lawyers told Congress that he and his staff had been removed from the investigation “at the request of the Department of Justice.” He claims to have faced retaliation from IRS leadership. Additionally, Hunter Biden’s legal team has already charged him with breaking the law.
The White House declined to comment on the matter, but shared a statement it previously issued saying that President Biden “has made it clear that the Department of Justice will handle this matter independently, under the leadership of the US Attorney General appointed by former President Trump. It is free from any political interference by the House.” White. He stuck to that commitment.”
At a Senate hearing in March, Attorney General Merrick Garland pledged not to interfere with the business David Weiss, US Attorney for Delaware He leads the Hunter Biden investigation.
“I promise to guarantee that he will be able to conduct and conduct his investigation,” Garland said March 1.
Shapley did not say whether he was under investigation by the Department of Justice regarding the steps he took.
“If I were investigated, it would be in retaliation for filing a whistleblower complaint,” he said.
Spokesmen for the Department of Justice and the US Attorney’s Office in Delaware declined to comment.
The IRS also declined to comment, saying, “Under federal law, the IRS cannot comment on certain taxpayer matters.” The agency’s statement added that it remains “strongly committed to protecting whistleblower homes, and there are robust processes and procedures in place to protect them.”
Shapley said he found this new role — as a whistleblower — outside his comfort zone, and not something he wanted to do. But he said he felt an obligation to come forward and report what he considered a breach of his oath.
“When I saw the horror of some of these things,” he said, “it was no longer an option for me.” “It’s not something I want to do. It’s something I feel I have to do.”
He said his ultimate motive was what motivated him to pursue the criminal tax investigation business in the first place.
“When taxpayers are treated differently – and people under investigation are treated differently, I don’t see how that doesn’t affect the fairness of the system,” he said.
Jim Axelrod
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