Hunter Biden has dropped a lawsuit against a pair of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers who alleged he received favorable treatment from the Justice Department.
Without explaining why, Hunter apparently decided he had no choice but to voluntarily dismiss the case "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be filed again. The son of former President Joe Biden filed the lawsuit in 2023 against former IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler.
The former first son claimed that the duo had "targeted and sought to embarrass Mr. Biden via public statements to the media in which they and their representatives disclosed confidential information about a private citizen’s tax matters.”
In a statement, Shapley and Ziegler said Biden's reversal speaks volumes, with the pair noting, "It’s always been clear that the lawsuit was an attempt to intimidate us,” the two men said. “Intimidation and retaliation were never going to work. We truly wanted our day in court to provide the complete story, but it appears Mr. Biden was afraid to actually fight this case in a court of law after all.”
“His voluntary dismissal of the case tells you everything you need to know about who was right and who was wrong," they added.
The IRS whistleblowers went public in 2023 with claims of obstruction in the investigation into Hunter Biden's taxes. The men also claimed they faced retaliation for sharing their concerns.
The allegations fed Republican criticism of Biden's family and the "weaponization" of government in favor of Democrats. Hunter Biden would later accuse the DOJ of giving in to political pressure to file criminal charges against him, but Biden's claims of selective prosecution were rejected in court.
Biden almost received an infamously generous plea deal that later fell apart in front of a skeptical judge. He later pled guilty to felony tax evasion on over $1 million in foreign income from his business deals, only to receive a blanket pardon from his father, President Joe Biden.
In addition to battling criminal charges, Hunter has been involved in a number of civil legal vendettas against individuals and entities who have exposed him and his business dealings to scrutiny.
Hunter Biden recently won his bid to drop a lawsuit that he started against former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler (no relation to Joe Ziegler), successfully pleading financial hardship.
Lawyers for Joe Ziegler and Gary Shapley declared vindication over Hunter Biden's dismissal of his case against them.
"Hunter Biden brought this lawsuit against two honorable federal agents in retaliation for blowing the whistle on the preferential treatment he was given,” the lawyers said in a statement.
“Shapley and Ziegler did nothing wrong, never had to seek a pardon, and their actions have now been entirely vindicated once again," they added.
President Donald Trump appointed Gary Shapley to serve as acting IRS commissioner in April, but he was replaced just three days later.
