Hunter Biden launched a suit against the IRS on Monday, arguing that two agents wrongfully released his tax information as they spoke with congressional investigators about a Justice Department investigation into his taxes.
“This lawsuit is not about the legitimacy of the IRS investigation of Mr. Biden over the past five years or any decision to penalize Mr. Biden for any failure to comply with his obligations under the tax laws,” Biden’s attorneys wrote in the suit.
“Rather, the lawsuit is about the decision by IRS employees, their representatives, and others to disregard their obligations and repeatedly and intentionally publicly disclose and disseminate Mr. Biden’s protected tax return information outside the exceptions for making disclosures in the law,” it added later.
The suit points to testimony from two IRS agents that worked on the broader Justice Department probe, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who alleged the Biden investigation was slow-walked by prosecutors.
The two men spoke with the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this summer and also testified before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee in July.
But the suit targets what it says were “20 nationally televised and non-congressionally sanctioned interviews” discussing the investigation.
Biden’s suit seeks $1,000 for “each and every unauthorized disclosure of his tax return information” made by the two men.
The IRS declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Biden’s attorneys have previously targeted the two men’s whistleblower status, and the Monday suit notes that attorneys for the Ways and Means Committee opened their meeting by noting the need to avoid any unlawful disclosures.
The suit also states that the House Oversight Committee is not among those permitted to review tax information in a closed setting.
Still the bulk of the suit focuses on interviews given by Shapley or his attorney, saying they erred in going beyond confirming the existence of the investigation and releasing new details about Biden’s taxes, including the tax years for the alleged violations as well as the amounts. It’s information that “could only be known to them based on a review of the physical tax returns themselves,” the suit argues.
“These agents’ putative ‘whistleblower’ status cannot and does not shield them from their wrongful conduct in making unauthorized public disclosures that are not permitted by the whistleblower process,” is says.
“In fact, a ‘whistleblower’ is supposed to uncover government misconduct, not the details of that employee’s opinion about the alleged wrongdoing of a private person.”
The investigation into Biden’s taxes have become a focal point in the GOP impeachment inquiry into his father, with three different committees reviewing claims that special counsel David Weiss mismanaged the investigation. They are also probing a plea deal related to Biden’s failure to pay taxes that fell apart before it could be approved by a judge.
Shapley has also claimed that Weiss sought and was denied special counsel status – something both Weiss and DOJ have denied. Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for Delaware, was elevated to the status in August.
Weiss last week brought three different gun charges against Biden relating to failure to acknowledge drug use when purchasing a weapon. But he has yet to file tax charges.
Biden’s lawyers on Monday said the disclosures are “undermining Americans’ faith in the IRS and the purported confidentiality of its investigations.”
“Mr. Biden has no fewer or lesser rights than any other American citizen, and no government agency or government agent has free reign to violate his rights simply because of who he is. Yet the IRS and its agents have conducted themselves under a presumption that the rights that apply to every other American citizen do not apply to Mr. Biden,” the suit claims.
Updated: 10:41 a.m.