CNN
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President Donald Trump is set to name Gary Shapley, the former IRS criminal investigator who alleged that the Justice Department slow-walked the investigation of Hunter Biden, as acting commissioner of the IRS, three people briefed on the matter told CNN.
Shapley provided whistleblower testimony to Republicans who claimed partisan bias by Jusfice officials had hindered the investigation of the son of President Joe Biden.
In recent weeks, Republicans celebrated Shapley’s return as deputy chief of IRS criminal investigation. Now, Trump is poised to name Shapley to run the entire agency, after the resignation of the former commissioner who opposed a data sharing agreement with the Homeland Security Department.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. The IRS did not provide an immediate comment about Shapley’s expected elevation.
A spokesperson for the Treasury, which oversees the IRS, praised Shapley in a statement.
“Gary has proven his honesty and devotion to enforcing the law without fear or favor, even at great cost to his own career,” they said. “He’ll be a great asset to the IRS as we rethink and reform this crucial organization.
This is an extraordinary rise for Shapley, who was a career supervisory IRS agent when he went public in 2023 with allegations that the Justice Department stonewalled their efforts to investigate Hunter Biden’s tax crimes and even tried to block charges from being filed. But other top officials, including at the IRS and the DOJ special counsel who led the Hunter Biden probe, have refuted some of Shapley’s claims.
Last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised Shapley as a truth-seeker who can reform the IRS, when he tapped him to be one of his senior advisers and promoted one of Shapley’s deputies.
“It’s really a travesty what happened here,” Bessent said in a Fox Business interview. “These two gentlemen were dedicated civil servants trying to do their jobs, and they were blocked from doing that. We’re going to make sure that never happens again. Whether you’re related to the president, no matter how powerful you are, the IRS is going to behave fairly.”
Shapley would become the fourth person to lead the beleaguered IRS this year, as Trump’s pick for full-time commissioner – former Missouri Rep. Billy Long – awaits confirmation in the GOP-led Senate.
The Biden-appointed and Senate-confirmed commissioner Danny Werfel resigned on Trump’s inauguration day, even though still had years left on his statutory term. Werfel was succeeded by a Doug O’Donnell, a career official with decades of experience, who abruptly retired at the end of February after policy clashes with Trump appointees. After O’Donnell came Melanie Krause, another career official, who decided to resign last week after the Trump allies pushed through a controversial deal to share taxpayer data with immigration agencies.
As rumors swirled this week about Shapley’s potential appointment to temporarily lead the tax-collection agency, some former IRS officials reacted with dismay.
“Glad I’m not there anymore,” one recently departed senior IRS official said. “It is going to be a sh*tshow.”
A current IRS employee who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity echoed a similar sentiment sentiment: “You gotta be sh*tting me.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Rene Marsh contributed to this report.