Hunter Biden has decided to drop his lawsuit against two IRS whistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler. This lawsuit, filed earlier this year, claimed that the whistleblowers targeted him and shared private information about his tax matters with the media. The case was centered around accusations that there was a cover-up in the Justice Department regarding the investigation into Biden’s alleged tax fraud.
Biden, who is 55, did not provide a specific reason for his decision to dismiss the lawsuit. His withdrawal comes after a tumultuous period during which his legal team, consisting of four attorneys, filed to withdraw from representing him just a month earlier. Shapley and Ziegler, who had previously raised concerns about how the Justice Department handled Biden’s investigation, expressed that the lawsuit was an attempt to intimidate them. They stated that Biden’s decision to dismiss the case showed he was unwilling to face them in court.
The whistleblowers had made their claims public, with Shapley giving an interview in May 2023 where he accused the Justice Department of delaying the investigation. Their allegations played a significant role in the scrutiny surrounding Biden’s tax issues, which led to him facing nine charges for failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019. Biden later paid the owed taxes and pleaded guilty to the charges.
Following his plea, former President Joe Biden granted his son a full pardon. The dismissal of the lawsuit is significant because it was done "with prejudice," meaning Biden cannot bring the case again in the future. Shapley and Ziegler’s attorneys highlighted that the dismissal was made without any deal or compensation, underscoring their belief that the whistleblowers acted honorably and were vindicated by Biden’s actions.
This development marks another chapter in the ongoing scrutiny of Hunter Biden’s business dealings and tax issues, which have been a focal point of political debate and media coverage. The whistleblowers’ legal representatives emphasized that their clients did nothing wrong and that their actions have been validated once again.