Two IRS whistleblowers are suing Hunter Biden Attorney Abbe Lowell for defamation, each seeking $10 million in damages, for Lowell’s efforts to have them investigated and jailed for their role in Biden’s tax charges, to which President Biden’s son has now pled guilty.
The lawsuit, filed Friday by IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler against defense lawyer Abbe Lowell, cites Lowell’s repeated accusations that the IRS agents committed criminal acts with their whistleblower disclosures. However, witness testimony has corroborated Shapley and Ziegler’s allegations that Justice Department officials gave Hunter Biden special treatment:
“Shapley and Ziegler, both experienced and dedicated special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, bring this action to vindicate their reputations for the incredible and malicious harm they have suffered at the hands of Abbe Lowell.”
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“Though Shapley and Ziegler remained professional and cautious in their actions, limiting public discussion to what was legally permissible, Biden’s attorney, Lowell, falsely and maliciously accused Shapley and Ziegler of committing crimes—namely, the illegal disclosure of grand jury materials and taxpayer return information—despite the fact that they never publicly discussed return information that was not already public.
“Lowell’s malicious and false allegations, including accusations that Shapley and Ziegler ‘committed felonies’ and ‘violated the law,’ were published to third parties, including the media, and have severely harmed their professional and personal reputations.”
Indeed, a New York Times article published August 19, 2023 (“Inside the Collapse of Hunter Biden’s Plea Deal”) appears to have sparked the media reports giving voice to Lowell’s claims:
“While Mr. Biden’s legal team agrees that the I.R.S. agents affected the deal, his lawyers have contended to the Justice Department that by disclosing details about the investigation to Congress, they broke the law and should be prosecuted.”
On June 30, 2023, Lowell sent a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), claiming that Shapley and Ziegler had violated federal law in making their protected whistleblower disclosures to his committee.
“Mr. Lowell slandered the brave IRS whistleblowers as 'disgruntled agents' with an 'axe to grind,' and suggested—again without evidence—that these men were responsible for leaks to media outlets,” House Chairmen Smith, Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and James Comer (R-MO) wrote in a September 12, 2023 letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
In their letter, the chairman told Garland that public reports suggest Lowell may have attempted to press the Justice Department to prosecute the two whistleblowers:
"As reprehensible as it was for Mr. Lowell to smear Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler, it appears from public reporting that Hunter Biden's legal team—perhaps including Mr. Lowell—even urged the Department to investigate and prosecute these whistleblowers.”
The letter reminds Attorney General Garland of the legal protections due the two whistleblowers, says they followed the proper procedures, and calls for Garland to turn over his communications with Biden’s attorneys regarding Shapely and Ziegler:
"Federal law protects the ability of IRS employees to blow the whistle on 'possible misconduct, maladministration, or taxpayer abuse' by disclosing such information to the Committee on Ways and Means.
“Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler followed the appropriate process by raising their genuine concerns about how the Department conducted its investigation into Mr. Biden.”