President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, sued the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Monday, accusing the agency of violating his privacy and unlawfully releasing his tax information.
Filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., Hunter Biden’s lawsuit alleges the IRS illegally disclosed his tax return information and failed to protect his confidential records. The president’s son is seeking all disclosed tax documents, $1,000 for each unlawful disclosure and attorneys fees, CNN reported.
The lawsuit was filed over interviews, testimony and statements made by IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler and their lawyers. Neither whistleblower was listed as a defendant in the case.
The judge assigned to the case is Timothy Kelley, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump.
“Despite clear warnings from Congress that they were prohibited from disclosing the contents of their testimony to the public in another forum, Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler’s testimony only emboldened their media campaign against Mr. Biden,” the lawsuit states.
“And finally, 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,” it adds.
The lawsuit alleges it 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.”
The lawsuit comes days after Hunter Biden was indicted by special counsel David Weiss on felony gun charges, according to court documents.
Hunter Biden is facing three criminal counts: two counts allege Biden lied on a federal firearms form when purchasing a Colt Cobra revolver, and one count alleges Biden was in possession of a gun while using illegal drugs.
