Reps. Jim Jordan and James Comer — the chairs of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, respectively — are bringing two IRS whistleblowers who disclosed tax information about Hunter Biden to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress Tuesday evening.
Their decision to invite Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler as their guests underscores how Republican scrutiny of the Biden family could continue on Capitol Hill long after President Joe Biden has left the White House. The younger Biden was charged with tax evasion in federal court in California, but those charges were dropped after the former President issued a sweeping pardon for his son during his final days in office.
“Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler embody the highest standards of the federal workforce,” Comer and Jordan said in a 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.”
Shapley and Ziegler testified before the Oversight Committee in 2023 about allegations of political meddling in the larger House GOP investigation into Hunter Biden. House Republicans, including Comer and Jordan, launched an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden that culminated in a report finding that the then-president engaged in “impeachable conduct” by leveraging his position to benefit his family. The House never held a vote on the matter.
Hunter Biden sued the IRS in 2023, alleging that Shapley’s and Ziegler’s disclosures of his confidential financial information were illegal.
Meanwhile, Comer’s Democratic counterpart on the Oversight Committee, ranking member Gerry Connolly, will not attend the address Tuesday evening. Unlike in previous years, Democrats are not boycotting the address from Trump en masse.
“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,” Connolly, of Virginia, said in a statement. “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.”
