Hunter Biden sues IRS, claims whistleblower agents 'targeted and sought to embarrass' him by discussing his tax returns

• Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, legal records show.
• The lawsuit alleges that agents "targeted and sought to embarrass" him by discussing his tax returns.

Hunter Biden, US President Joe Biden's son, has filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), alleging its agents "targeted and sought to embarrass" him by discussing his tax returns.

"Biden has no fewer or lesser rights than any other American citizen, and no government agency or government agent has free reign to violate his rights simply because of who he is," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that two former IRS officials violated Biden's right to have the information kept private when they told Congress and the media that they felt an investigation into his tax affairs had been mishandled.

"Two IRS agents—Mr. Gary Shapley and Mr. Joseph Ziegler—and their attorneys raised the stakes to unprecedented levels with their numerous public appearances and statements that blatantly violated Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code by engaging in a campaign to publicly smear Mr. Biden," the lawsuit states.

It claims that the agents unlawfully revealed his tax return information and that the IRS did not create safeguards to make sure his details were kept confidential, in violation of the Privacy Act.

The IRS whistleblowers, Shapley and Ziegler, claimed in July testimony to Congress that justice department officials went easy on Biden in an investigation into his taxes because he's the president's son.

However, in testimony to the House Judiciary Committee, an FBI agent undercut a key claim by one of the whistleblowers, denying that David Weiss, the special counsel overseeing the DoJ probe into Biden, The New York Times reported.

"This assault on Mr. Biden's rights involved the public disclosure of his confidential tax information during more than 20 nationally televised and non-congressionally sanctioned interviews and numerous public statements," the lawsuit said.

Biden is seeking $1,000 for each unauthorized disclosure, attorney's fees, and all documents relating to his tax disclosures.

Hunter Biden is embroiled in a slew of legal troubles, amid investigations into his tax affairs, a gun purchase, and the collapse of a recent plea deal with prosecutors.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has launched an impeachment investigation into President Biden over his son's business dealings in Ukraine and China on the basis of unproven allegations President Biden was improperly involved in them.

A plea agreement between federal prosecutors and Hunter Biden collapsed in July when a judge refused to sign off on the deal. Had it gone through, Biden would have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and would likely have been spared jail.

The IRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside working hours.

You can read the complaint from Hunter Biden's lawsuit here:

And here is a letter from Abbe Lowell, Biden's counsel, disputing congressional testimony made by an IRS whistleblower and claiming that Hunter Biden overpaid his federal tax in 2018.