House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer are bringing two key IRS whistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, as their guests to former President Donald Trump’s upcoming address to Congress. The whistleblowers previously disclosed tax-related information about Hunter Biden, keeping Republican scrutiny of the Biden family alive on Capitol Hill.
Shapley and Ziegler played a pivotal role in exposing alleged misconduct in the federal investigation into Hunter Biden. Their invitation signals an ongoing GOP commitment to investigating the Biden family, even after President Joe Biden has left office. Hunter Biden had faced federal tax evasion charges in California, but those charges were ultimately dropped following a broad pardon issued by Trump in his final days in office.
“Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler embody the highest standards of the federal workforce,” said Comer (R-Ky.) and Jordan (R-Ohio) in a joint statement. “They are honorable public servants who risked their careers and livelihoods to expose misconduct and politicization in the federal criminal investigation of Hunter Biden.”
The two whistleblowers previously testified before the House Oversight Committee in 2023, alleging political interference in the federal probe into Hunter Biden. Their testimony contributed to a broader House GOP investigation that resulted in an impeachment inquiry into then-President Joe Biden. While the investigation concluded with a report asserting Biden engaged in “impeachable conduct” by using his position to benefit his family, the House never held a vote on the matter.
In response, Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against the IRS in 2023, arguing that Shapley and Ziegler’s disclosures of his confidential financial information were unlawful.
Meanwhile, Representative Gerry Connolly, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, has announced he will not attend Trump’s address. Unlike previous years, Democrats are not staging a mass boycott of the event. However, Connolly expressed his personal decision to abstain, citing Trump’s “chaos and cruelty” in a statement:
“The challenges my constituents face demand more than sitting in a chamber I revere, listening as if the person addressing our country is not unleashing chaos and cruelty on their lives. I cannot give audience to that. In solidarity with the Inspectors General and other independent watchdogs who have been prevented from doing their work in service to the people … I will not attend Donald Trump’s address to Congress.”
Trump’s return to the congressional stage is expected to be a focal point for political discourse, with Republicans emphasizing their investigative efforts into the Biden family while Democrats weigh their response to the former president’s renewed presence in Washington.
