The identity of "Whistleblower X," the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower who claims the federal legal system abused its power in the criminal investigation into President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, was revealed to be Joe Ziegler.
Months before Ziegler admitted to being the second IRS whistleblower, he had previously been attacked by former President Donald Trump allies, who accused the IRS agent of having a liberal bias.
Garrett Ziegler, a former Trump aide who is not related to the whistleblower, blamed the "lack of accountability" over the Hunter Biden investigation on the "presumed bias" of IRS agents, like Joe Ziegler, in a Marco Polo report on the infamous Hunter Biden laptop. The former staffer heads Marco Polo, a "nonprofit research group exposing corruption & blackmail."
In the 2022 report, Garrett Ziegler attached photos of Joe Ziegler and his husband and claimed that Ziegler's husband is connected "at least socially" to Demetre Daskalakis, who was appointed by President Joe Biden to White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator last year.
Ziegler, a 13-year special agent with the IRS, testified before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday alongside former IRS investigation supervisor Gary Shapley. He alleged that the federal tax investigation into Hunter Biden should have resulted in more serious criminal charges than the misdemeanor tax charges Biden is expected to plea guilty to as part of a plea agreement next week. Ziegler said, "we all agreed" on felony counts against the president's son, but that's not what transpired.
Ziegler, who began at the IRS in 2010 and worked as an external auditor with Ernst & Young before that, addressed his sexual orientation and political affiliation at the top of his opening remarks.
"I recently discovered that people are saying I must be more credible because I'm a Democrat who happens to be married to a man," Ziegler said in his opening remarks. "I'm not more credible than this man sitting next to me due to my sexual orientation or my political beliefs. The truth is, my credibility, comes today from my job experience with the IRS and my intimate knowledge of the agency's standards and procedures."
Ziegler said in an interview with CBS News that while he identifies as a Democrat, "In the last presidential election, I actually did not vote. I thought it would be irresponsible of me to do so because I didn't wanna show bias one way or the other."
"Today, I sit here before you, not as a hero or victim, but as a whistleblower compelled to disclose the truth. That said, in coming forward, I believe I am risking my career, my reputation, and my casework outside of the investigation we are here to discuss," Ziegler said during the hearing. "No one should be above the law, regardless of your political affiliation."
Although Garrett had attempted to smear Ziegler in his 2022 report, the former Trump aide appeared to walk back on his criticisms upon learning Ziegler was whistleblowing against the Bidens.
"This conspiracy and this criminal coverup is causing even the mid-level and even sort of the...lower-level people to come forward because they don't want to be the fall guys. They don't want the inaction to be blamed on them," he told Steve Bannon on Bannon's War Room podcast last month.
Ziegler and Shapley have already appeared before the panels' GOP lawmakers in closed-door interviews, during which Shapley testified that U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is overseeing the years-long Hunter Biden probe, told him he doesn't make the final decision on charging decisions and that he was denied special counsel status when he requested it. Such status would allow Weiss to bring charges outside of his district.
On Wednesday, Ziegler backed Shapley up, saying, "I still think that a Special Counsel is necessary for this investigation."
Garland has denied those allegations and maintained that Weiss had full authority over the investigation, including the final say on charges, and Weiss himself wrote a letter to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham confirming he never asked for special counsel status. Weiss added that he was assured he would have been granted the status by Garland, if necessary.
Despite Garland and Weiss' response to Shapley's claims, the allegations have ignited a firestorm among House Republicans who are using the claims to fuel their calls to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is facing growing pressure from the right-wing members of his party to go after Biden cabinet officials, has signaled he's open to an impeachment inquiry.
"If it comes true what the IRS whistleblower is saying, we're going to start impeachment inquiries on the attorney general," McCarthy told Fox News last month.
