Photo: Mark Makela / Getty Images News / Getty Images
Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on Monday (September 18). The lawsuit accuses IRS agents of "repeatedly and intentionally" sharing his private tax information with the media and public amid a criminal investigation into unpaid taxes.
While the lawsuit does not name the two IRS whistleblowers as defendants, it cites comments that Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler made about Biden's tax returns.
"Since their public testimony before the House of Representatives on July 19, 2023, the agents have become regular guests on national media outlets and have made new allegations and public statements regarding Mr. Biden's confidential tax return information that were not previously included in their transcripts before the Committee on Ways and Means," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit notes that Shapley claimed that Biden wrote off "prostitutes, sex club memberships, [and] hotel rooms for purported drug dealers" as business expenses.
"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. 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 lawsuit continues.
Biden is seeking $1,000 in damages for "each and every unauthorized disclosure of his tax returns."