eagleye13 Loc: Fl

IRS whistleblower provides Congress origins of Biden probe, evidence of political interference

URL:
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/sat-irs-whistleblowe
r-provides-congress-origins-biden-probe?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&ut
m_campaign=newsletter
URL:
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/irs-whistleblower- team-removed-h****r-biden-case-possible

Just The News

IRS whistleblower provides Congress origins of Biden probe, evidence of
political interference
Special Agent Gary Shapley turned over 23 pages of evidence, gave six hours
of testimony to House Ways and Means Committee.
By John Solomon <https://justthenews.com/john-solomon>
Updated: May 26, 2023 - 11:49pm

A decorated IRS agent provided Congress six hours of testimony and seven
critical documents Friday that gave lawmakers insights into the origins of
the H****r B***n criminal tax probe and evidence of political interference
inside the Justice Department dating to the 2020 e******n.
Gary Shapley, an IRS supervisory criminal investigator granted whistleblower
status, testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, fielding
questions from staff from Democrat and Republican lawmakers, his legal team
announced.
Sources familiar with the session told Just the News that Shapley turned
over seven documents totaling 23 pages that summarized the evidence and
predicate for the original investigation into the taxes and overseas
finances of H****r B***n, President Joe Biden's son.
The memos also summarized multiple instances dating to 2020 in which DOJ
officials thwarted, hampered or interfered with the frontline career
investigators' efforts - ranging from blocking certain tactics to allowing
tolling agreements to expire that extended the statute of limitations on
certain alleged offenses. Shapley described IRS and FBI agents being
concerned by the interference.
The lawyers for Shapley, Mark Lytle and Tristan Leavitt, declined to discuss
the specific of his testimony but confirmed the session occurred and that it
involved bipartisan questioning.
"IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley testified for about six hours
today to Democrat and Republican staff of the House Ways and Means
Committee," his legal team said in a statement. "Both sides had equal
opportunity to ask wh**ever questions they wanted, and Special Agent Shapley
answered all of their questions."
Shapley's name had been concealed
<https://justthenews.com/accountability/whistleblowers/irs-whistleblower-idd
-testify-friday-congress> prior to Wednesday, when Just the News confirmed
his identity. He has alleged that federal prosecutors engaged in
"preferential treatment and politics" to prevent charges from being brought
against H****r B***n as part of an ongoing tax investigation.
In a brief interview with CBS ahead of his testimony, Shapley previewed the
concerns that led him to reach out to the DOJ inspector general and Congress
as a whistleblower.
"There were multiple steps that were slow-walked - were just completely not
done - at the direction of the Department of Justice," the 14-year veteran
agent told CBS.
***** "When I took control of this particular investigation, I immediately saw
deviations from the normal process. It was way outside the norm of what I've
experienced in the past," he also said.
Shapley, a widely respected IRS agent who helped the agency build big cases
included against Swiss banks, first approached the government's internal
watchdog with the help of whistleblower attorney Mark Zaid late last year.
Shapley eventually went to Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, the
same watchdog who debunked the Russia collusion narrative and unmasked FBI
abuses in the probe of former President Donald Trump.
The IRS agent has since filed a formal complaint
<https://justthenews.com/accountability/whistleblowers/irs-whistleblower-idd
-testify-friday-congress> of retaliation with the Office of Special
Counsel, alleging that he was sidelined from the investigation after he made
protected disclosures and that he had been passed over for promotion despite
being the most qualified candidate for the post.
His attorneys have since disclosed to Congress that Shapley and his entire
team had been officially removed from the case at the behest of the Justice
Department in what they deemed another retaliatory act.
Lytle and Leavitt wrote to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel earlier this week,
suggesting there were other whistleblowers coming forward to back Shapley's
story.
They cited a separate agent's communication to the IRS. In that
communication
<https://justthenews.com/accountability/whistleblowers/tueirs-whistleblower-
team-warned-years-h****r-biden-investigation?utm_source=justthenews.com&utm_
medium=feed&utm_campaign=external-news-aggregators> , Shapley's subordinate
case agent appeared to indicate that the pair's efforts to call attention to
pervasive problems affecting the investigation had gone on for years.
"For the last couple years, my SSA and I have tried to gain the attention of
our senior leadership about certain issues prevalent regarding the
investigation.
"I have asked for countless meetings with our chief and deputy chief, often
to be left out on an island and not heard from. The lack of IRS-CI senior
leadership involvement is deeply troubling and unacceptable," the case agent
told Werfel.
In his whistleblower complaint to the Office of Special Counsel, obtained by
Just the News, Shapley disclosed evidence of interference in the H****r
Biden case started in the summer of 2020.
Shapley's "protected disclosures began in the summer of 2020, when he began
noting irregularities in how the Department of Justice was handling the
case," including at least one U.S. attorney's office and the DOJ's tax
division, according to the complaint.
Shapley "informed his management chain that DOJ's handing of the case failed
to follow established precedent," the complaint letter also states.
Two years of complaints boiled over in an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting with
Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the chief prosecutors in the H****r
Biden case, also according to the letter.
****** "In a charged meeting on October 7,2022, U.S.Attorney for the District of
Delaware became aware that both the IRS and the FBI had longstanding
concerns about the handling of the case, and that he had been communicating
his concerns up his chain of command," the complaint letter states.
After that meeting, Shapley "and his IRS team were no longer invited to any
further prosecutorial team calls and meetings on the case, effectively
excluding them from the case," also according to the letter.
RELATED ARTICLES
H****r B***n case takes stark twist with allegation of retaliation against
IRS whistleblower
<https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/irs-whistleblower-t
eam-removed-h****r-biden-case-possible




<https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/comer-says-fresh-ev
idence-warrants-investigation-joe-biden-public>

Comer says fresh evidence warrants investigation of Joe Biden 'for public
corruption'
<https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/comer-says-fresh-ev
idence-warrants-investigation-joe-biden-public>