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IRS whistleblower on Hunter Biden out as acting commissioner days after getting job
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Fatima Hussein And Chris Megerian
Published Apr 18, 2025 • 2 minute read
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley arrives to testify on the Hunter Biden investigation during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Dec. 5, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
WASHINGTON — Just days after being promoted to acting IRS commissioner, the whistleblower who testified publicly about investigations into Hunter Biden’s taxes is out of the job, according to three people familiar with the decision.
Gary Shapley, who previously testified to Congress as Republicans reviewed the business dealings of Joe Biden’s son, will be replaced by Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender, according to the three people, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the move and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Faulkender will be the fourth IRS leader since President Donald Trump took office in January, a sign of the turmoil within the agency in the early months of the president’s second term in the White House.
Shapley’s short-lived tenure comes as a stream of high-ranking officials have exited the federal tax collection agency via a mix of resignations over Trump’s policy decisions, layoffs and demotions.
Shapley’s ouster and subsequent replacement were first reported by The New York Times, which said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had complained to Trump that Shapley had been installed without his knowledge and at the behest of Trump adviser Elon Musk, who has butted heads with Cabinet officials in his role spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency.
Late Thursday night, Musk shared an X post from Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has criticized certain administration officials for a lack of loyalty to Trump, a Republican.
Loomer accused Bessent of inviting a “Trump hater” to work with him on financial literacy efforts. “I am going to personally tell President Trump and personally show him these receipts,” Loomer wrote, adding “shame on” Bessent.
Musk responded, “troubling.”
As a result of the latest upheaval, the IRS has put a temporary pause on its reduction in force plan, according to two of the people also familiar with Shapley’s ouster. The pause in layoffs is due to the whiplash changes in leadership at the tax collection agency, the people said.
Earlier this month, the IRS began layoffs that could end up cutting as many as 20,000 staffers — up to 25% of the total workforce.
Shapley had been installed to replace Melanie Krause, who resigned from her role as acting IRS commissioner over a deal between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security to share immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help it identify and deport people illegally in the U.S.
Krause had replaced acting Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell, who announced his retirement from the agency after roughly 40 years of service in February as furor spread over DOGE gaining access to IRS taxpayer data.
Trump’s nominee to head the IRS, former U.S. Rep. Billy Long of Missouri, has not yet been confirmed.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Fatima Hussein And Chris Megerian
Published Apr 18, 2025 • 2 minute read
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley arrives to testify on the Hunter Biden investigation during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Dec. 5, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
WASHINGTON — Just days after being promoted to acting IRS commissioner, the whistleblower who testified publicly about investigations into Hunter Biden’s taxes is out of the job, according to three people familiar with the decision.
Gary Shapley, who previously testified to Congress as Republicans reviewed the business dealings of Joe Biden’s son, will be replaced by Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender, according to the three people, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the move and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Faulkender will be the fourth IRS leader since President Donald Trump took office in January, a sign of the turmoil within the agency in the early months of the president’s second term in the White House.
Shapley’s short-lived tenure comes as a stream of high-ranking officials have exited the federal tax collection agency via a mix of resignations over Trump’s policy decisions, layoffs and demotions.
Shapley’s ouster and subsequent replacement were first reported by The New York Times, which said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had complained to Trump that Shapley had been installed without his knowledge and at the behest of Trump adviser Elon Musk, who has butted heads with Cabinet officials in his role spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency.
Late Thursday night, Musk shared an X post from Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has criticized certain administration officials for a lack of loyalty to Trump, a Republican.
Loomer accused Bessent of inviting a “Trump hater” to work with him on financial literacy efforts. “I am going to personally tell President Trump and personally show him these receipts,” Loomer wrote, adding “shame on” Bessent.
Musk responded, “troubling.”
As a result of the latest upheaval, the IRS has put a temporary pause on its reduction in force plan, according to two of the people also familiar with Shapley’s ouster. The pause in layoffs is due to the whiplash changes in leadership at the tax collection agency, the people said.
Earlier this month, the IRS began layoffs that could end up cutting as many as 20,000 staffers — up to 25% of the total workforce.
Shapley had been installed to replace Melanie Krause, who resigned from her role as acting IRS commissioner over a deal between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security to share immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help it identify and deport people illegally in the U.S.
Krause had replaced acting Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell, who announced his retirement from the agency after roughly 40 years of service in February as furor spread over DOGE gaining access to IRS taxpayer data.
Trump’s nominee to head the IRS, former U.S. Rep. Billy Long of Missouri, has not yet been confirmed.
IRS whistleblower on Hunter Biden out as acting commissioner days after getting job
the whistleblower who testified publicly about investigations into Hunter Biden's taxes is out of the job
Leaving before their own taxes are audited?IRS whistleblower on Hunter Biden out as acting commissioner days after getting job
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Fatima Hussein And Chris Megerian
Published Apr 18, 2025 • 2 minute read
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley arrives to testify on the Hunter Biden investigation during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Dec. 5, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
WASHINGTON — Just days after being promoted to acting IRS commissioner, the whistleblower who testified publicly about investigations into Hunter Biden’s taxes is out of the job, according to three people familiar with the decision.
Gary Shapley, who previously testified to Congress as Republicans reviewed the business dealings of Joe Biden’s son, will be replaced by Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender, according to the three people, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the move and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Faulkender will be the fourth IRS leader since President Donald Trump took office in January, a sign of the turmoil within the agency in the early months of the president’s second term in the White House.
Shapley’s short-lived tenure comes as a stream of high-ranking officials have exited the federal tax collection agency via a mix of resignations over Trump’s policy decisions, layoffs and demotions.
Shapley’s ouster and subsequent replacement were first reported by The New York Times, which said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had complained to Trump that Shapley had been installed without his knowledge and at the behest of Trump adviser Elon Musk, who has butted heads with Cabinet officials in his role spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency.
Late Thursday night, Musk shared an X post from Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has criticized certain administration officials for a lack of loyalty to Trump, a Republican.
Loomer accused Bessent of inviting a “Trump hater” to work with him on financial literacy efforts. “I am going to personally tell President Trump and personally show him these receipts,” Loomer wrote, adding “shame on” Bessent.
Musk responded, “troubling.”
As a result of the latest upheaval, the IRS has put a temporary pause on its reduction in force plan, according to two of the people also familiar with Shapley’s ouster. The pause in layoffs is due to the whiplash changes in leadership at the tax collection agency, the people said.
Earlier this month, the IRS began layoffs that could end up cutting as many as 20,000 staffers — up to 25% of the total workforce.
Shapley had been installed to replace Melanie Krause, who resigned from her role as acting IRS commissioner over a deal between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security to share immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help it identify and deport people illegally in the U.S.
Krause had replaced acting Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell, who announced his retirement from the agency after roughly 40 years of service in February as furor spread over DOGE gaining access to IRS taxpayer data.
Trump’s nominee to head the IRS, former U.S. Rep. Billy Long of Missouri, has not yet been confirmed.
IRS whistleblower on Hunter Biden out as acting commissioner days after getting job
the whistleblower who testified publicly about investigations into Hunter Biden's taxes is out of the job
Ex-FBI informant who made up bribery story about Bidens will stay in prison
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Rio Yamat
Published Apr 30, 2025 • 2 minute read
LAS VEGAS — A federal judge has denied the U.S. government’s request to release from prison a former FBI informant who fabricated a story about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes that became central to Republicans’ impeachment effort.
The decision, issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Otis Wright in Los Angeles, comes weeks after a new prosecutor was reassigned to the case and jointly filed a motion with Alexander Smirnov’s attorneys seeking his release while he appeals his conviction.
Smirnov, 44, was sentenced to six years in prison in early January after pleading guilty in federal court in Los Angeles to tax evasion and lying to the FBI about the phony bribery scheme, which was described by the previous prosecutors assigned to the case as an effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
His attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, told The Associated Press in a text that they will appeal the judge’s decision and “continue to advocate for Mr. Smirnov’s release.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles declined to comment.
Smirnov had been originally prosecuted by former Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who resigned in January days before President Donald Trump returned to the White House for his second term.
In their motion seeking Smirnov’s release, the U.S. government said it would review its “theory of the case.” The motion also noted that Smirnov’s release from custody would allow him to receive proper treatment for health issues related to his eyes.
Smirnov has been in custody since February 2024. He was arrested at the Las Vegas airport after returning to the U.S. from overseas.
Smirnov, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, falsely claimed to his FBI handler that around 2015, executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million each.
The explosive claim in 2020 came after Smirnov expressed “bias” about Biden as a presidential candidate, according to prosecutors at the time. In reality, investigators found Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017 — after Biden’s term as vice president.
Authorities said Smirnov’s false claim “set off a firestorm in Congress” when it resurfaced years later as part of the House impeachment inquiry into Biden, who won the presidency over Trump in 2020. The Biden administration dismissed the impeachment effort as a “stunt.”
Weiss also brought gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden, who was supposed to be sentenced in December after being convicted at a trial in the gun case and pleading guilty to tax charges. But he was pardoned by his father, who said he believed “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Rio Yamat
Published Apr 30, 2025 • 2 minute read
LAS VEGAS — A federal judge has denied the U.S. government’s request to release from prison a former FBI informant who fabricated a story about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes that became central to Republicans’ impeachment effort.
The decision, issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Otis Wright in Los Angeles, comes weeks after a new prosecutor was reassigned to the case and jointly filed a motion with Alexander Smirnov’s attorneys seeking his release while he appeals his conviction.
Smirnov, 44, was sentenced to six years in prison in early January after pleading guilty in federal court in Los Angeles to tax evasion and lying to the FBI about the phony bribery scheme, which was described by the previous prosecutors assigned to the case as an effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
His attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, told The Associated Press in a text that they will appeal the judge’s decision and “continue to advocate for Mr. Smirnov’s release.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles declined to comment.
Smirnov had been originally prosecuted by former Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who resigned in January days before President Donald Trump returned to the White House for his second term.
In their motion seeking Smirnov’s release, the U.S. government said it would review its “theory of the case.” The motion also noted that Smirnov’s release from custody would allow him to receive proper treatment for health issues related to his eyes.
Smirnov has been in custody since February 2024. He was arrested at the Las Vegas airport after returning to the U.S. from overseas.
Smirnov, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, falsely claimed to his FBI handler that around 2015, executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million each.
The explosive claim in 2020 came after Smirnov expressed “bias” about Biden as a presidential candidate, according to prosecutors at the time. In reality, investigators found Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017 — after Biden’s term as vice president.
Authorities said Smirnov’s false claim “set off a firestorm in Congress” when it resurfaced years later as part of the House impeachment inquiry into Biden, who won the presidency over Trump in 2020. The Biden administration dismissed the impeachment effort as a “stunt.”
Weiss also brought gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden, who was supposed to be sentenced in December after being convicted at a trial in the gun case and pleading guilty to tax charges. But he was pardoned by his father, who said he believed “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
Ex-FBI informant who made up bribery story about Bidens will stay in prison
Federal judge has denied the U.S. government's request to release from prison a former FBI informant who fabricated a story about Joe Biden
