Hunter Biden on Wednesday canceled a lawsuit that had accused the IRS of illegally trying to “embarrass” him by sharing his private tax information with the public.
Mr. Biden’s lawsuit was aimed in particular at Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who were the criminal investigators who pursued him and who brought the full extent of his tax problems to public light, tanking a cushy deal he had worked out with the prosecutors.
Mr. Biden and the Justice Department, in a brief filing with the federal district court in Washington, said his claims were being dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning they cannot be refiled.
No reason was given but Mr. Biden, in nixing another lawsuit, had pleaded poverty.
The two agents, in a joint statement, said they had been looking forward to facing down Mr. Biden.
“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,” they said. “His voluntary dismissal of the case tells you everything you need to know about who was right and who was wrong.”
Mr. Biden, in his complaint filed in 2023, said he was maltreated by the IRS — and the two agents in particular — by the public accusations about his tax problems.
That included private information from his tax returns, which Mr. Biden — who was the son of the sitting president at the time — said violated IRS secrecy laws.
Among the information Mr. Biden said was leaked was the fact that he was under investigation, that the agents believed he should have been charged with crimes for evading taxes in some years, and information from Mr. Biden’s now-infamous laptop.
Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler had tried to intervene as defendants to plead their case.
Both Mr. Biden and the IRS had opposed that, and a judge ruled against the agents’ request. They had appeals and the case was still pending before the circuit court.
Mr. Biden was convicted of both tax and gun charges.
His father, President Biden, swooped in with a controversial pardon late last year.
Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler, meanwhile, have won promotions in the Trump administration.
Mr. Shapley was elevated to deputy chief of IRS Criminal Investigations and was assigned to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s office to advise on IRS reforms. Mr. Ziegler was also promoted and assigned to assist in IRS reforms.
