IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, a leak in the Hunter Biden tax research, is facing severe repercussions after exposing alleged misconduct at the organization. After making a public statement about his fears, Shapeley, who gained widespread attention after an appointment with investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, claims to be under extreme pressure to accept a dismissal or to step down.
National Review reports on the latest innovations, shared by Shapley’s lawyer, Tristan Leavitt, reveal that the IRS had evidently been withholding a punitive choice until after Herridge’s meeting went viral. The IRS sent SSA Shapley this notice less than an hour after @C__ Herridge posted this story about the retaliation against the IRS whistleblowers, Leavitt tweeted, noting that the agency appeared to have delayed this decision by at least two weeks.
A punishment was actually announced by the IRS on October 15 when Shapley was informed of a planned change. He would then be promoted from his supervisory special broker position in the legal division to a senior analyst position. Shapley had the option to downgrade or, if he so desired, to obtain a lower-level special agent position, or to keep the agency completely.
In response to the alleged retribution, Shapley’s lawyer sent a formal letter to Congress on Thursday. Added to House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo. ), House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio ), and House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky. ). The history of disciplinary remedy that Shapley claims to have experienced since he first made his findings clear in Leavitt’s notice.
” From the moment USA Weiss received admittance to SSA Shapley’s secured journalist statements and approached IRS command, the IRS has treated SSA Shapley differently”, Leavitt wrote in the email. According to him,” the unlawful punishment increased after SSA Shapley made it abundantly clear that he intended to inform Congress and another.” And it continues to this day, when the IRS is aware that it can fight against SSA Shapley just by passing the time until he is forced into the place of resigning or being fired.
The U. S. Office of Special Counsel ( OSC ) is currently investigating the allegations of retaliation, not only against Shapley but also against another IRS whistleblower, Joseph Ziegler, who had similarly come forward regarding the Hunter Biden case. Leavitt has urged congressional Republicans to request a report on the status of the OSC’s 17-month analysis and has asked for an intervention from the OSC to stop what he calls an alleged situation of retaliation.
