{"id":2269866,"date":"2024-06-17T16:49:01","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T20:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gop-investigating-irs-whistleblower-retaliation-in-hunter-biden-case\/"},"modified":"2024-06-17T16:53:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T20:53:15","slug":"house-gop-investigating-irs-whistleblower-retaliation-in-hunter-biden-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gop-investigating-irs-whistleblower-retaliation-in-hunter-biden-case\/","title":{"rendered":"House GOP probes IRS whistleblower retaliation in Hunter Biden investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-gop-investigating-irs-whistleblower-retaliation-in-hunter-biden-case%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2269866&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>House GOP leaders have \u2064initiated an investigation into\u200d the \u2064Office \u2064of Special Counsel (OSC), alleging that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-to-nominate-texas-sheriff-to-lead-ice\/\" title=\"Biden to Nominate Texas Sheriff to Lead ICE\">agency played<\/a> a role \u200bin retaliating against two IRS \u200dwhistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. These whistleblrowsers are seen as crucial figures in the criminal probe surrounding Hunter Biden, specifically concerning claims that the\u200c Department of Justice provided\u200c him favorable treatment. House Speaker Mike Johnson, along with other\u2062 high-ranking Republican officials, \u2063has requested a briefing from the OSC to explore \u2064these\u200c accusations of a\u200b &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/president-trump-calls-embattled-republican-lawmaker-marjorie-taylor-greene\/\" title=\"President Trump Calls Embattled Republican Lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene\">smear campaign<\/a>&#8220;\u200c against Shapley and Ziegler. This action is part of a broader scrutiny by Republican leaders\u2063 who praise the whistleblowers for their courage and integrity\u2064 in reporting wrongdoing. They are demanding that the OSC conducts an impartial inquiry into the retaliation\u200d claims made by the whistleblowers, highlighting \u2062the severe personal costs to Shapley and \u2063Ziegler for their actions. \u2062The \u200cclaims are\u2062 currently pending \u2063with the\u2063 OSC.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>House GOP leaders are opening an investigation into the Office of Special Counsel over claims the federal agency contributed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/education-insanity-top-10-stories-of-the-week-vol-3\/\" title=\"Education Insanity: Top 10 Stories Of The Week (Vol. 3)\">alleged retaliation<\/a> against two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2443836\/biden-impeachment-inquiry-republicans-release-more-irs-whistleblower-evidence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>IRS whistleblowers<\/a> central to a criminal investigation into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hunter-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Hunter Biden\">Hunter Biden<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) joined other GOP leaders in sending a letter to Karen Gorman, acting principal deputy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sidney-powell-is-an-american-legal-giant\/\" title=\"Sidney Powell Is an American Legal Giant\">special counsel<\/a>, Monday requesting a briefing to determine whether the agency was involved with an alleged \u201csmear campaign\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3013664\/cia-investigators-kevin-morris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>against whistleblowers <\/a>Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. The request comes after Shapley and Zieglar have become central to lawmakers\u2019 investigations into Biden over allegations the Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2644600\/doj-blocked-former-hunter-biden-prosecutor-from-discussing-case-with-congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>gave favorable treatment<\/a> in its investigation of him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Shapley and Ziegler] did exactly what an honorable government employee should do: When they witnessed wrongdoing, they reported it responsibly and made legally protected disclosures,\u201d party leaders said in <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/release\/house-gop-leaders-press-the-office-of-special-counsel-on-retaliation-and-smear-campaign-against-irs-whistleblowers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>a statement<\/a>. \u201cBecause of their bravery and integrity, we are finally beginning to see steps toward accountability. But this has not come without great cost to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter was signed by Johnson as well as House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY), Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO). <\/p>\n<p>Now, the GOP leaders are pressing the OSC to \u201cconduct an impartial investigation\u201d that the two whistleblowers are being retaliated against by \u201cthose seeking to smear these courageous individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter comes after both Shapley and Ziegler submitted whistleblower retaliation claims to the OSC earlier this year, which are currently both pending before the agency. <\/p>\n<p>Shapley\u2019s claim alleges prosecutorial misconduct in the Biden investigation by the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, accusing Attorney David Weiss of retaliating against him in November 2022 after learning Shapley reported wrongdoing by the office.<\/p>\n<p>The Republican leaders cited a document that was filed to the District Court for the Central District of California by Weiss earlier this year with certain phrasing and redactions that fueled \u201cmedia speculation about whether the whistleblowers themselves are under investigation for wrongdoing.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>It was later discovered the whistleblowers were not under investigation, lawmakers wrote. Rather, the document was related to an OSC investigation into allegations of retaliation against Shapley and Ziegler.  <\/p>\n<p>However, the agency \u201cspecifically requested\u201d the information be filed under seal, prompting the redactions. The Republican leaders say that move is concerning because it caused the filing to be \u201cinterpreted by many to reflect negatively upon the whistleblowers,\u201d which the pair alleges to be a form of retaliation against them for their disclosures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe committees were surprised to learn that OSC did not take any meaningful action for nearly two months to correct this unnecessary impression,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe committees understand that the confidentiality of whistleblowers is of the utmost significance,\u201d they added, \u201cbut when there is a public filing by the very government official accused of retaliating against the whistleblowers that damages their reputation, and the chain of events leading to that damage appears to have been initiated by OSC. The committees seek to understand why OSC did nothing to mitigate the harm and correct the public record.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The OSC confirmed to the <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>that the agency received the letter, but a spokesperson declined to comment. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The investigation comes one week after Biden was found guilty on federal gun charges in an indictment brought by Weiss late last year. Weiss has also charged Biden with federal tax crimes, with the trial scheduled to begin in September. <\/p>\n<p>Biden has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House GOP leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), have initiated an investigation into the Office of Special Counsel. They allege the agency was involved in retaliating against two IRS whistleblowers pivotal to a criminal probe into Hunter Biden. A letter was sent to Karen Gorman, acting principal deputy special counsel, outlining their concerns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2640,"featured_media":2269867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24163482569232-1.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2269866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24163482569232-1.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2269866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2269866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2269866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2269867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2269866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2269866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2269866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}