And now an important follow up to our reporting on the IRS whistleblowers who exposed political interference in the Hunter Biden tax probe. Once facing retaliation for their disclosures, they’ve managed to turn the tables in a big way, vindicated with legal settlements and even promotions. Today an update featuring a remarkable comeback.

The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.

Joseph Ziegler: When I saw that Donald Trump was elected as president, I was like, ‘Wow, this is okay. Maybe we’re actually gonna see the change.’

The past seven years have thrown Joseph Ziegler one curveball after another.

Ziegler: You probably know my history, but I was a Democrat. I don’t identify really as a Democrat anymore. And I really support Donald Trump and I support this administration and what they’re doing with government reform. Like for, for the first time, I feel like there’s government accountability and that we’re making the government make the government great again.

It started in 2018 when Ziegler, an IRS criminal investigator, uncovered potential tax fraud tied to a powerful political family.

Ziegler: I was the primary case agent who initiated the case against Hunter Biden.

Sharyl: You were seeing evidence that could potentially have implicated Joe Biden, Hunter’s father, and were not allowed to follow that trail. Is that accurate?

Ziegler: Yeah, so there were multiple points. That’s just one example. There was talking to the, Joe Biden’s kids, adult children. We were not allowed to do that. If there were any questions when we were doing interviews of certain people that led to Joe Biden, we weren’t allowed to go and ask those questions.

Ziegler says Justice Department and IRS bosses barred mention of Joe Biden in a Ukraine-related search warrant. Tipped off Hunter’s attorney before a search warrant was executed. And blocked him from asking witnesses about a Hunter Biden email referring to “10% [of payments in a Chinese business deal] held by H [Hunter] for the big guy.” A former partner said that meant Joe Biden— the Bidens denied it. And Ziegler says the Justice Department blocked him from pursuing leads tying Joe Biden to alleged bribery involving Burisma. That’s the Ukrainian energy firm that paid Hunter millions.

Ziegler: So it was very apparent from the beginning that they just didn’t want to touch anything related to the former vice president at the time— wasn’t even the President— Joe Biden. So it was kind of like all hands off. And it just didn’t seem appropriate. And looking back on everything, when you add it all in totality, it’s a lot bigger of a deal than you might think. DOJ had this much control over essentially holding us down from doing a proper investigation related to the Biden family.

Joe Biden has long denied any involvement in Hunter’s work.

Joe Biden (September 2019): I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.

Ziegler and his supervisor Gary Shapley became whistleblowers and did an exclusive interview with me on Full Measure in 2024.

Gary Shapley (February 2024): No one in IRS leadership disagreed that there were discrepancies, but they just completely avoided their duties to act autonomously for the IRS. And they just allowed the Department of Justice to do really whatever they wanted. And that really exacerbated this entire issue.

Sharyl: Who told you guys you were off the case?

Shapley: The special agent in charge of the Washington, D.C. field office told us.

Sharyl: Do you feel you may lose your job over this somehow?

Shapley: I’ve received information that they’re, they’re plotting and planning behind us, and we’re prepared for that when it happens.

In Fall of 2024, the IRS did move to demote or force out Shapley, Ziegler’s supervisor. Whistleblowers rarely come out on top.

But with help from Congress and the whistleblower group Empower Oversight, Shapley and Ziegler pushed back. And the tide turned dramatically.

The IRS and Justice Department have settled retaliation claims with both men. The agreement reportedly requires mandatory training for prosecutors to prevent future misconduct. Two related lawsuits also resolved favorably.

Ziegler: If you remember back Hunter had sued, he didn’t sue us directly, but he had sued our employer, the IRS for making improper disclosures of his return information. He since dropped that. We ended up suing his attorney, Abby Lowell, and we have ended up settling that. And he, in the settlement, said that basically we were acting in good faith and basically supporting whistleblowers, which is ultimately— we didn’t wanna financial gain from that. We just wanted to recognize that what we did was right.

And Ziegler and Shapley not only kept their IRS jobs, they leveled up.

Ziegler: We’ve also received promotions at the IRS. We’ve, through, thank God for the Secretary of Treasury, he made us senior advisors to him.

After the whistleblowing, their work was vindicated when Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine tax offenses, charges Ziegler and Shapley originally sought.

But any leads allegedly pointing to Joe Biden appear to be forever dead, with time limitations on criminal filings expired.

In December 2024, on his way out the door of the White House, President Biden issued a sweeping presidential pardon for his son.

Now, Ziegler and Shapley have chronicled their odyssey in a book, “The Whistleblowers vs. The Big Guy.” Profits support future whistleblowers.

Ziegler: So it really ties a very complex puzzle together from how this family operated, how they operated, and how two measly agents were able to essentially go against the White House and the presidency of the United States. I don’t know if that’s ever been done before, but Gary and I were successful in doing that. This book truly is a David and Goliath story. If you’re wanting to read about the triumph over evil in good, this is the story for you.

Sharyl (on-camera): The other whistleblower Gary Shapley was also promoted to Deputy Chief of IRS Criminal Investigations, a senior leadership role overseeing field offices, foreign posts, and over 2,000 special agents.

Watch the video here.