IRS whistleblowers reach settlement with DOJ in retaliation case

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley on Thursday announced they had reached an undisclosed settlement with the Justice Department (DOJ) over its allegedly illegal retaliation against them.

Lawyers for the whistleblowers claimed in August that their clients were still facing retaliation from the Justice Department even six months into the new administration. Ziegler and Shapley are best known for their investigation into Hunter Biden's taxes.

The settlement announcement comes the same day that a judge dismissed Ziegler's and Shapley's defamation lawsuit against Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, who had accused them of committing crimes by sharing information that was allegedly not covered by whistleblower protections.

The duo claimed that the former first son was given special treatment under the Biden administration because he was the then-president's son.

“We have been in the public eye because we did our duties as loyal public servants," the men said. "We legally blew the whistle when Hunter Biden almost escaped prosecution for his crimes because he was the President’s son. We had to file a lawsuit against Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, because he falsely accused us of committing serious felonies in retaliation.  

"Since then, Biden pled guilty to his crimes and has been pardoned. He also dropped his lawsuit against the IRS targeting us for our protected disclosures," the pair continued. “We have recently concluded settlement agreements of our claims that the DOJ and IRS illegally retaliated against us for blowing the whistle on the improper politicization of that case. 

"In addition to substantial compensation for the harm we suffered, the DOJ has agreed to use this example to train all federal prosecutors for years to come, so other brave civil servants are not victimized the way we were," they added.

Shapley and Ziegler said they are considering appealing the dismissal of their lawsuit against Lowell.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.