The IRS whistleblower who went to Congress with claims the Justice Department interfered with a years-long high profile tax investigation–reported to involve Hunter Biden–has gone public, granting an interview with CBS News that aired Wednesday evening.
Supervisory Criminal Investigative Agent Gary Shapley, a 14-year IRS veteran, spoke to CBS two days before he is scheduled to give closed door testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday. Shapely, a registered Republican, says he is non-partisan in his work and does not make political contributions, telling CBS, “I’m just simply not a political person. This is a job, and my oath of office is to treat everybody fairly that we investigate.”
Shapely had fruitlessly gone to multiple in-house whistleblower channels at the IRS and DOJ before turning to Congress in frustration.
A second IRS whistleblower, a member of Shapely’s team, contacted Congress last week with similar concerns of DOJ interference.
Shapely’s attorney Mark Lytle informed Congress last week that Shapely and his team of investigators had been abruptly pulled off the investigation on orders of the Justice Department.
CBS posted a brief clip of Shapely saying, “There was multiple steps that were slow walked at the direction of the Department of Justice.”
EXCLUSIVE: In his first interview, CBS News sat down with the IRS agent who is blowing the whistle on what he says was preferential treatment during a federal investigation that CBS has learned is tied to the president’s son, Hunter Biden, for possible tax crimes. pic.twitter.com/CUVjVVNsh2
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) May 24, 2023
Excerpt from the CBS report online:
“There were multiple steps that were slow-walked — were just completely not done — at the direction of the Department of Justice,” said Gary Shapley, a 14-year veteran of the agency, who spoke exclusively to CBS News chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod on Tuesday. “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.”
…Shapley told CBS News he became increasingly concerned about measures being taken that he said appeared to shield the target of the investigation — which CBS News independently confirmed is Hunter Biden.
“Each and every time, it seemed to always benefit the subject,” Shapley said. “It just got to that point where that switch was turned on. And I just couldn’t silence my conscience anymore.”
…”For a couple years, we’d been noticing these deviations in the investigative process. And I just couldn’t, you know, fathom that DOJ might be acting unethically on this,” he said.
CBS News obtained a letter Shapley’s attorneys sent last week to the Office of the Special Counsel, a federal agency dedicated to assisting government whistleblowers. The letter alleges “irregularities” in the Department of Justice’s handling of the case, and cites a “charged meeting” Shapley’s team had with Justice Department prosecutors last October. According to the letter, following that meeting, Shapley’s team was effectively excluded from the investigation. Shapley would not say if he made prosecutors aware of his concerns but did acknowledge the incident prompted him to blow the whistle.
“It was my red-line meeting,” Shapley said. “It just got to that point where that switch was turned on, and I just couldn’t silence my conscience anymore.”
End excerpt. Please read the complete CBS report at this link.
Breitbart reported earlier Wednesday that IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel sent a letter to Congress last week blaming the DOJ for the removal of the whistleblower (excerpt):
IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told Congress the Justice Department (DOJ) made the decision to purge an IRS whistleblower from the DOJ’s probe into Hunter Biden, according to a letter sent to House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO).
Werfel’s letter on May 17 responded to Smith’s May 16 inquiry about concerns that a high-ranking IRS agent faced retaliation for raising red flags about alleged political interference in the tax probe of Hunter Biden.
Werfel said the decision to remove a whistleblower from the tax investigation was at the DOJ’s direction, confirming what a second IRS whistleblower alleged Monday.
“The IRS whistleblower you reference alleges that the change in their work assignment came at the direction of the Department of Justice,” reads the letter, obtained by Fox News. “As a general matter and not in reference to any specific case, I believe it is important to emphasize that in any matter involving federal judicial proceedings, the IRS follows the direction of the Justice Department.”
Werfel disavowed any potential role he allegedly had in removing the IRS whistleblowers from the case.
“I want to state unequivocally that I have not intervened – and will not intervene – in any way that would impact the status of any whistleblower,” Werfel said.
Featured Image via Kevin Tober with the Media Research Center.
CBS Evening News rediscovers the Hunter Biden scandal with an exclusive interview with the IRS whistleblower who alleged Hunter was receiving preferential treatment. pic.twitter.com/P72r3LEaQk
— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) May 24, 2023