Hunter Biden has quietly dropped his high-profile lawsuit against two IRS whistleblowers who exposed alleged misconduct and political interference in the federal investigation into his finances. The move, filed “with prejudice,” ensures the lawsuit cannot be refiled—effectively bringing the case to a close and raising serious questions about the motivation behind it in the first place.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2023, targeted IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, both of whom came forward to reveal what they described as stonewalling and preferential treatment from the Department of Justice during the years-long probe into Biden’s unpaid taxes and foreign business dealings. The agents were accused by Biden’s legal team of leaking confidential tax information and violating federal privacy laws in an effort to embarrass the president’s son.
But now that the suit has been dropped, those same whistleblowers say it proves their point.
“This tells you everything you need to know,” one person close to the investigation said. “Hunter Biden didn’t want discovery. He didn’t want depositions. And he didn’t want the truth under oath.”
Shapley and Ziegler had originally taken their concerns through official channels, including DOJ inspectors and congressional oversight committees. When those efforts were ignored or stalled, they went public. Their disclosures painted a troubling picture of a federal system willing to bend the rules to shield a politically connected figure from consequences.
Hunter Biden was eventually charged with failing to pay approximately $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019—charges that came only after mounting public scrutiny and pressure from whistleblowers. He later repaid the back taxes and accepted a plea deal, before receiving a full pardon from his father, President Joe Biden.
Critics argue the lawsuit was always more about retaliation than justice—an attempt to discredit credible whistleblowers and chill future disclosures about politically sensitive cases. Now that it’s been withdrawn, many are calling on Congress to step up and ensure greater protections for federal agents who expose wrongdoing.
The case also underscores the growing public distrust in the DOJ and IRS, institutions once viewed as impartial arbiters of the law but now increasingly seen as political weapons. For those who have followed the Biden family scandals, the dropped lawsuit adds another chapter in what they believe is a broader pattern of privilege, protection, and political cover.