Hunter Biden filed a case against the IRS, saying that agents “repeatedly and intentionally” shared his private tax return information with the public. He said those agents “targeted and tried to embarrass Mr Biden” by telling the media about his private tax issues that should be kept secret. Biden was charged with three crimes linked to having a handgun a few days before the lawsuit was filed.
Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against the IRS on Monday, saying that agents have “repeatedly and intentionally” shared his private tax return information with the public while investigating him for a crime.
In the civil suit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., the president’s son said that the agents “targeted and tried to embarrass Mr. Biden” by telling the media about his private tax issues.
Biden wants a court to say that the IRS shared his tax information without permission and to give him $1,000 for each illegal exposure.
Biden, who is 53 years old, was charged with three crimes connected to possessing a handgun a few days before the lawsuit was filed.
Biden was close to a plea deal with prosecutors on misdemeanour charges that he didn’t pay federal taxes on more than $1.5 million yearly in 2017 and 2018, as well as a separate pretrial diversion agreement tied to the gun case. But the whole plan fell apart during a dramatic court meeting in July.
In a court statement on Monday, Biden’s lawyer said that the new lawsuit against the IRS “is not about the legitimacy of the IRS’s investigation of Mr Biden over the past five years or any decision to punish Mr. Biden for not meeting his tax obligations.”
Two IRS agents, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, and their lawyers are named in the 27-page complaint. They are accused of “engaging in a campaign to publicly smear Mr Biden” by talking about his taxes in more than 20 nationally televised interviews and other public comments.
Shapley and Ziegler came forward as “whistleblowers” to say that the Department of Justice had done wrong things during the long-running tax investigation of President Joe Biden’s son. Hunter Biden’s lawyer said their actions went beyond what they could do as whistleblowers.
Abbe Lowell, the lawyer, also sent a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., on Monday morning to dispute reports that Hunter Biden owed many taxes in some years, including 2018.
“I am writing to let you know that you and your agents are wrong,” Lowell wrote. “Until the final facts about Mr. Biden’s 2018 tax year come out, it looks like Mr. Biden will be due a tax refund for that year.”
