Special Agent Joseph Ziegler, a 13-year veteran of the IRS, was revealed as ‘Whistleblower X’ and is the second IRS employee to come forward to claim the federal tax investigation into the president’s son supported criminal charges more serious than the misdemeanor tax charges.
Ziegler, who has been known only as “Whistleblower X” revealed his identity Wednesday at the direction of lawmakers, who called him before a House committee to describe his role in the federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s dealings.
Ziegler plans to shoot down any assumptions that he is a more reliable source because he is a gay Democrat married to a man.
In the news: Rep. Matt Gaetz Looks To Defund Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Trump Investigation
“I’m no more credible than this man sitting next to me due to my sexual orientation or my political beliefs,” Ziegler said. “I was raised and have always strived to do what is right.”
“I have heard from some that I am a traitor to the Democratic Party and that I am causing more division in our society. I implore you, that if you were put in my position with the facts as I have stated them, that you would be doing the exact same thing, regardless of your political party affiliation.”
Ziegler said he hopes to serve as an example to the LGBT community “who are questioning doing the right thing at a potential cost to themselves and others.”
Democrat Maryland Rep. Jaime Raskin opened the House Oversight Committee’s hearing on the testimony of two IRS whistleblowers’ by praising a convicted criminal who attempted to discredit an ongoing criminal investigation into the Biden family.
In defense of the Bidens, Raskin cites an “extraordinary” letter he received from Lev Parnas, a former Rudy Giuliani business associate who claims the Trump campaign worked to fabricate charges against the Biden family, and who said there was no evidence of any crimes committed by Hunter or Joe Biden, according to Raskin. Parnas is a convicted felon who was charged with foreign campaign finance violations, wire fraud, making false statements and falsifying records, according to the Department of Justice.
“In this extraordinary ten-page letter, Parnas painstakingly describes the campaign orchestrated by Rudy Giuliani and Trump to quote, ‘dig up dirt on the Bidens and spread misinformation through various networks, including government officials, journalists and Fox News personnel,’” Raskin said in his opening statement.
“Parnas concludes his letter by saying … ‘There has never been any evidence that Hunter or Joe Biden committed any crimes related to Ukrainian politics,’” said Raskin. “As Mr. Parnas concludes, there has never been any factual evidence, only conspiracy theories, spread by people who knew exactly what they were doing, and then he calls on this committee to end this wild goose chase and offers to come and testify.”
“Let’s bring him in as a witness, and let’s hear about that crusade that they were on to smear President Biden by providing the same baseless conspiracy theories that this committee serves up as moldy leftovers every day,” Raskin concluded.
Parnas was sentenced to 20 months in prison in 2020 for conspiring to make political donations via a foreign national, solicitation, conspiring to make straw donations, participating in wire fraud, and making false statements and falsifying records, according to the DOJ.
A Democrat serving on the House Oversight Committee compared a whistleblower to Inspector Javert, the villain from the Victor Hugo novel and famous musical “Les Miserables” on Wednesday.
Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna made the comparison during a hearing where Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler testified regarding the Hunter Biden investigation, during which Khanna cited Shapley’s push for more serious charges. Javert, a police inspector in the novel and musical, relentlessly pursued Jean Valjean, according to the BBC, and eventually committed suicide after Valjean spared his life.
“You have a history of wanting to charge people and then people pushing back,” Khanna said to Shapley. “Your own testimony under oath, you said about 90% of the time people are pushing back on what you want to do, and I’m not questioning. I mean, you’re a stickler for the law. Reminds me of ‘Les Mis’ and the famous person wanted to get the person that had the sandwich. I mean, and all those times, you have people pushing back on you, and you say, well they’re not very respected. Do you respect Mr. Weiss?”
The Justice Department announced June 20 that Hunter Biden would plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges, while a felony charge of lying on the form filled out when purchasing a firearm would be addressed via a pre-trial diversion program following an investigation by U.S. Attorney David Weiss. Congressional Republicans, candidates for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 and legal experts all criticized the plea agreement, with some calling it a “sweetheart deal.”
Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee previously released transcripts of depositions from IRS whistleblowers who said Attorney General Merrick Garland and IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel lied to Congress about the Hunter Biden probe on June 22.
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