House Committees Demanding Accountability for Alleged Retaliation Against Whistleblowers

Several members of House committees are stepping up to call out alleged retaliation against whistleblowers that have come forward to members of Congress since the GOP took over the House.

According to reports, IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler have been targeted since coming forward.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY), and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) penned a letter this week to the IRS and DOJ demanding answers.

What’s Going On?

The testimony of Shapely and Ziegler has been front and center in the House impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.

The two men have collectively painted a picture of pure corruption on the part of top IRS officials, who they alleged were trying to derail the investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax probe.

For instance, they claimed that their supervisors were blocking interviews of First Family members for the sake of protecting Joe Biden.

They have since alleged that their superiors were retaliating against them for coming forward to members of Congress.

The lawmakers responded by penning the letters to IRS officials and the DOJ, which, in part, stated, “Any and all attempts to intimidate or retaliate against Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler for their protected disclosures to Congress must stop.”

#NEWS: @Jim_Jordan, @RepJamesComer, @RepJasonSmith Demand Accountability for Retaliation Against Hunter Biden Whistleblowers

📍 Garland: https://t.co/yblgn768BT

📍 Weiss: https://t.co/5nTJUBMAPg

📍 Werfel: https://t.co/iJmnoGtxdU

— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) April 2, 2024

According to the impeachment investigators, Special Counsel David Weiss had asked a federal judge to seal a court filing that potentially revealed the probe into the whistleblowers.

The lawmakers stated, “The redacted portion of the Department’s brief is in a paragraph about guidance from the IRS on whistleblowing options distributed to IRS employees, ‘including Shapley and Ziegler,’ suggesting that the whistleblowers may be subjects of the purported ongoing investigation and that the IRS may be involved in it.”

The House chairs are now demanding the unredacted version of that report for verification of the claims.

Hunter’s attorneys have previously requested information into the conduct of the whistleblowers to help Hunter’s case, claiming this was politically motivated.