WASHINGTON — When Gary Shapley, a longtime IRS investigator, wanted to air his accusations that the federal government had mishandled the tax investigation into President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, the information he had was so sensitive he couldn’t even provide it to his own lawyer without potentially committing a felony.
So through his attorney, he approached Empower Oversight, a small group mostly composed of Republican lawyers with deep experience in Capitol Hill investigations — including years spent as aides to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa — who coached him on what to do.
Armed with intricate knowledge of Congress’ byzantine procedures and various whistleblower statutes, some written by Grassley decades ago, the men developed a strategy for how to get the information to Congress lawfully.
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Months later, Shapley and a fellow IRS investigator, Joseph Ziegler, were testifying in open session before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, detailing their claims that the president’s son had received preferential treatment, which many in the Republican Party eagerly publicized as proof of their frequent accusations that Joe Biden and the Justice Department are corrupt.
It was not the first time that Empower Oversight had played a key role in facilitating some of the many Republican investigations into Biden’s family, his administration, and federal law enforcement. As the GOP presses forward with inquiries...
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