RADIOSeptember 30, 2024

Why this IRS whistleblower is SUING Hunter Biden’s attorney

When IRS investigator-turned-whistleblower Gary Shapley accused the IRS of covering up Hunter Biden’s tax crimes, he knew the path forward wouldn’t be easy. While he says he has “no regrets,” he joins Glenn to explain why he and his fellow whistleblower Joseph Ziegler filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit against Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, for defamation. Shapley is joined by Empower Oversight President, who has worked to protect whistleblowers.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So for people who think maybe bad guys don't ever pay for their crimes.

Good guys never win. You remember the IRS whistle-blowers, that blew the whistle on Hunter Biden's tax crimes. These are the guys, who said, wait. There's something going on. We were told not to look into it. They slow walked it, et cetera, et cetera.

Well, they were smeared and really destroyed. And one of the guys is -- is pretty amazing.

He's -- he's known throughout the world. This is an IRS agent. Known throughout the world for his work on global tax enforcement. He was selected to create a new international organization called the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement.

He's a supervisory special agent of the International Tax and Financial Crimes Group.

Where he leads 12 elite special agents who are subject matter experts in complex international tax and other related financial crimes.

The guy has -- I mean, he started his career as AmeriCorps volunteer. That he went to work for the Defense Department. Then Intel. Then he joined the IRS and criminal investigations. He's out to get the bad guys. He joins us now.

Welcome, Gary Shapley. How are you?

GARY: Very good. Thanks for having me, Glenn. I appreciate it.

GLENN: Oh, yeah. Thank you for your courage. For speaking out. Thank you for doing the right thing.

I also want to bring in Tristan Leavitt. Tristan is a guy who worked with Chuck Grassley, trying to help all the whistle-blowers.

He helped expose Operation Fast and Furious.

And a lot of different things. And is really strong on protecting the whistle-blowers. They are so important.

Tristan, welcome.

TRISTAN: Thank you so much, Glenn.

GLENN: So where do we start, Gary, because you are now suing Hunter Biden, and you are suing them for, what? $20 million?

GARY: To be clear, where the alleged defamation is against Abbe Lowell, the attorney for Hunter Biden.

And, yeah, the amount is 10 million for me, and also Joe Ziegler, for a total of 20 million, yes.

GLENN: So what do you claim they did?

GARY: So the complaint alleges that -- that Mr. Lowell defamed us, and it was part of an overall smear campaign, to attack both Joe Ziegler and I, for coming forward, following the law, going to Congress, and disclosing the preferential treatment that his client was receiving by the Department of Justice.

And, you know, our disclosures weren't -- weren't -- even though Hunter Biden was the topic.

Our disclosures were against the malfeasance in the Department of Justice.

FBI and IRS. So it's really interesting, that it was this third party, that came in. And became the -- you know, as we allege in our complaint, the main defamer and smearer, of both Joe Ziegler and I.

GLENN: So Tristan, that is not uncommon, though. Is it? You're a whistle-blower.

They attack whistle-blowers now like there's no tomorrow.

TRISTAN: Yeah. That's exactly right. I testified yesterday -- or, I guess two days ago, in front of the -- and there are three of our FBI clients that had been with us in the past, and one was with me again. And it's very, very common for us, to be lied about and defamed. That's part of why we want to create consequences for that.

We started. We are supporting. We are funding this lawsuit, that Gary and Joe are bringing in Abbe Lowell in our organization, of how our oversight, who I'm the president of.

And we want to, you know, hold people accountable. We want to do it in other cases.

Because we just think there's never any consequences for people just lying with impunity. They just get away with it.

And so we want to fight back, and that's not something you see happen a lot.

So that's why we want to raise money from the public. You know, we have this website, the FederalWhistleblowers.com, to build up this fund, precisely for suits like this. Where Gary and Joe, were just trying to do the right thing. And they went to Congress to do what was right. But, again, as so often happens, they were lied about. But in their case, it can have real consequences for their careers.

GLENN: I will tell you, I saw -- I saw one of the whistle-blowers, Marcus Allen, with the FBI. That guy seemed like he was dirt strong.

In -- you know, standing up for the right thing.

But he looks like he had been dragged the lie.

And just -- just punched repeatedly in the gut.

It was -- it was amazing to watch him. These whistle-blowers are really, truly, the best of America.

TRISTAN: Yeah. I sat right next to him, as he gave that statement the other day, as I testified there also. And he is, unlike some of the other whistle-blowers that testified with us, a year and some change ago, he's not been on social media.

He's just been holding it in, so we could get his pay reinstated.

And get his security clearance back.

He's finally through all of that. This was his real -- the first time people saw it. Just everything he's been through.

GLENN: It's horrible.

So what are the odds of -- I mean, what are you fighting against?

They are going to fight you with everything they have and lots of money.

Law firms do not want this one to win.

TRISTAN: Yeah. That's absolutely right.

Yeah. The real thing that Gary and Joe. They can share this.

But they're not suing for the more than in any way, right? Yes. It's a 20 million defamation suit. The point of this is that they -- as alleged in the complaint. It's not right for someone like Abbie Lowell, who is well-known, well-identified as a really big name.

A really big litigator. He represented Jared and Ivanka Trump even. But for him to go. If he goes on TV and says, these guys broke the law by sharing their tax information with Congress. Lots of people believe it.

And even Mitch Langberg, who is a defamation attorney who is representing our -- our defamation expert on our legal team, who was one of the foremost experts in the country. You know, without having a background. He said my general impression of these guys breaking the law.

Until he studied the case. And read what we shared.

And said, wow. We haven't been treated fairly here.

We want to educate the public. To know that these guys did not only the right thing. But they did it in the right way.

GLENN: So, Gary, did you at all have conversations amongst yourself of. Should we do this?

You know what will happen to us? Did you have that conversation?

GARY: Well, overall. Right? People say, why did you come forward?

And it really wasn't a choice for me. just my conscience wouldn't allow me to sit there, knowing -- knowing what I know. And seeing what was going to happen in this case. So, I mean, of course, we talked about the -- the risks, but at the same time, unfortunately -- you know, fortunately, for the American people, unfortunately for me personally, you know, the risks were real. And many of them are coming through fruition through retaliation by my employer, IRS, and the Department of Justice against me.

So I went in with my eyes wide open. And, you know, I have no regrets. I feel like we've been vindicated by -- you went from charges that weren't even going to be charged. That even before the -- the generous plea deal fell apart, where he was going to have to plead guilty to two misdemeanors. You know, they were going to give him a deferred prosecution agreement.

And when we were coming forward, you know, DOJ and David Weiss, knew they were coming forward.

He said, no, no, no. That's not going to work out. So we will have to make him plead guilty.

Of course, the judge had the amicus brief from Congress. They included our testimony. They voted out, and made public.

And, you know, that information made it pretty clear that -- that Hunter Biden was receiving that preferential treatment.

Once again, the Department of Justice and IRS here.

That is the one that engaged in -- in the conduct, in which we blew the whistle again.

So, you know, I have no regrets. And I hope the American people have confidence in -- in the IRS. And of government employees, because of what Joe and I did.

GLENN: Here's what I would like you to do. If you are -- if you have $5. There is nothing better than -- than cleaning out this rat's nest. Of liars. And thieves.

In our Justice Department. In really, in all throughout the government.

They have to be taught a lesson.

And unless we do it from the outside, the inside is never going to punish itself.

And I would urge you to go to Empowr. E-M-P-O-W-R.us. And if you can, make a donation. This thing is going to cost a lot of money.

But we have to have the best lawyers on it. We have to have the strongest case possible.

Otherwise, this continues over and over and over again, and good people are destroyed.

So please, go to Empowr. E-M-P-O-W-R. No E there, dot.us. And give, if you can.

Thank you so much, guys.

Appreciate it.

TRISTAN: Thank you, Glenn. Appreciate it.

GLENN: You bet. Buh-bye. Let me just play this whistle-blower.

So this guy is the guy that Tristan was just talking about, that he sat next to.

I don't know if you saw this. But he's an FBI agent. Who was a whistle-blower.

Life destroyed.

Hasn't said anything publicly. Until the other day.

And listen to what he said.

It's cut three.

VOICE: I've considered the hearing today, my last act of service as a public servant for the United States of America. And I'll give you my professional opinion.

I was an Intel professional for our country, for many years.

And I would give recommendations. And also indications and warnings.

Soiled offer this to the American people, as my warning to them.

This is a warning, the American people, I say, you personally have no confidence, that the FBI will reign in its own conduct.

I have been persecuted along with Garrett. Steve and Kyle. And countless other whistle-blowers. It is my opinion, that the bureau used reprisal and fear to control the workforce.

It has been a seemingly effective tactic. I personally believe that there are no current effective checks and balances against them, conducting lawless action with any type of correction in a legitimate time frame.

GLENN: Wow.

VOICE: I welcome the work of the IG. But I think any type of lawless action, there is no legitimate time frame to rein them back in. Their ability to overclassify information, to allow them to stonewall forever.

To the American people, you have a duty as a citizen to vote. And I strongly urge you to do so.

It's how you participate in the American experience. I know people have doubts about election integrity. But you must vote it as your claim.

Stake your claim, and don't forfeit it willingly.

Have your voice heard. My other recommendations are in the natural order.

First vote. Is the Second Amendment. Arm yourself, and know how to defend yourself. Make three to four friends in your neighborhood. And promise to come to people's mutual aid in times of hardship. And during the great depression. People stocked up a pantry.

So I think that's a good practice, especially in our economic times, and make sure you have three to four months of food. As a person of faith, I would say, pray the rosary.

Go to the first Friday devotions. That's for everybody. All my brothers and sisters of all faiths. And I know I'm Catholic. And read the gospel of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. And live it every day.

And that's all I have to say, thank you for the time.

GLENN: Do you hear how his voice is shaking?

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: This is -- how do people dismiss that warning? That is -- I mean, we are living in unprecedented times.

And I tweeted that out, the other day. I should retweet it now.

These guys are so brave. And you can tell they are -- they are not playing politics. Listen to that warning, and share it with your friends.

Uncovering the truth: National Guard ambush in DC

National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe were recently ambushed in Washington, DC, by an Afghan national brought to the US as part of President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome. What’s the truth about this horrific event? Glenn Beck, who worked with his charity, Mercury One, to properly vet and evacuate many Afghans during the botched withdrawal, explains what almost no one in the government or media will tell you…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So we clearly have a problem with some of the people that have been airlifted into the United States.

And I want to clarify a couple of things.

Because we airlifted people. You did. With your support.

We did it, at Mercury One.

And I want to make sure that you understand what happened there, and where our people, that we airlifted, where they are.

But first, let me say this. What we're seeing experience here is a story that almost no one in Washington wants to say out loud. And it begins with the people. But it -- it begins with the people that are responsible for failure, and that's -- that's our leadership here in America. A failure of honesty, a failure of courage the whole time.

When Kabul fell back in 2021, we rushed in to do what Americans always do, and that's help people out. We run to save. We ran to keep our word, and God bless every soldier and airman and Marine and volunteer who risk everything to rescue the men and women who stood for us, for 20 long years.

But here's the part that nobody prints. We didn't just evacuate our allies. We did. But the United States government evacuated anyone they could grab. In the chaos. Because chaos is the oldest enemy of truth. We opened up floodgates.

Tens of thousands of people, we didn't know. Nobody really vetted. Nobody could verify.

Nobody could fully account for. Even today, we don't know where they are.

That's not xenophobia. That's not fear-mongering. That's the Department of Homeland Security's own inspector saying that. Quote, we don't know who many of these people are. End quote.

This is something that while we're doing it, our vetting is much better than the United States of America.

They're bringing in people they don't know who they are.

Now, think of the weight of the sentence. Came from the inspector general. We don't know who many of these individuals are.

Think about the histories of nations, who forgot the simple duty of understanding who they bring inside the gates.

When that happens, the country is over. Rome did it. The Byzantine empire did it. Europe did it, before the migrant crisis, and now in 2021, we did it as well. And we knew this. We've been talking about it on this program, forever!

Now, inside of our temporary bases, Fort McCoy, Fort Bliss, Quantico, even our own FBI and military police documented things that the media just dusted off.

Eh, don't worry about it. We showed you at the time, sexual assaults that were happening in these temporary bases. Sexual assaults. Domestic abuse. Attempted strangulation. US service women harassed and followed into showers. Did we do anything about it?

These were not rumors. These were not internet stories. They were actual federal charges. Did anybody say anything about them?

Meanwhile, police departments. Virginia, California. Texas. Places with the largest Afghani arrivals began reporting the same exact pattern. Domestic violence, forced marriage concerns. Child protection cases. Cultural classes. And our law enforcement had to deal with them.

And did anybody in the media say anything about it?

No. Why?

You were bigoted if you said anything about it. Here's what happened. Our government took a lot of people from a tribal system.

Patriarchal. War-torn. No skills. No -- imagine going from Afghanistan to Chicago! How do you survive in that? How do you survive in that? Now, that's not the fault of the families. That's the fault of the federal government. A government that through them and us, into a social experiment overnight. Without even thinking about it, talking about it. Accept it.

Some of the people that are paroled into the United States, had ties to the Taliban, ISIS-K, or another, or several other. Terrorist organizations. That's not speculation. That has been confirmed by our own DOD. DHS. And congressional testimony.

We've known this for a very long time.

You know, when the Pentagon warns you, that that person should probably not be in the United States.

I don't know. Maybe we should listen to them. And maybe we should be concerned about a DHS, or a State Department that waves them in anyway. That's not compassion. That's dereliction of duty, period. Period.

Now, add to this, the humanitarian parole system. Meant for rare, urgent cases. It was a revolving door. You -- where are all these refugees from?

I'm not talking about the Afghanis. I'm talking about all the other people that have gone to Europe. That have gone to the United States.

That are swamping countries in the West. Where are they coming from?

Really? There's that big of a -- this is a bigger refugee problem than we've had in World War II. How is that possible. Know

We can't confirm anybody as identity. It doesn't seem that we care. Asylum. Family reunification request. Exploded. Some valid. Some of them unprovable. Some of them just out and out lies, that we knew were lies.

So what happened?

Our cities become strained. Our cities go into disorder. They start stealing from us. Look at Minneapolis.

Here's the biggest strain. The biggest strain on us, is the truth.

Is honesty.

It takes courage to say what actually happened.

But, you know, we're not living in a time of courage. We're living in a time where people saying the truth. You know, you acknowledge reality. And you get labeled.

You notice patterns. Oh, my gosh. You're silenced.

You ask responsible questions, you're accused of bigotry.

Truth doesn't care about the labels. It just sits there.

It just waits for somebody to show up and go, you know. That's the truth. I'm going to have to say it. So let's say it!

Here's the truth: America owes a sacred debt to anybody we promised.

Anybody who was fighting with them, we should protect them. We should honor them. We should welcome them. But that's not what happened. That's not what happened. We didn't perform a moral rescue as a government. We performed a political evacuation.

And I was there, so I know it.

You know, somebody posted kind of a snarky tweet at me, because I spoke at our gala here a couple of weeks ago. And I talked about what the State Department was doing. And I said, you know, it's time to understand how evil the State Department really was during that evacuation. Our people were vetted.

And we didn't bring people into the United States.

We brought people to the UAE. A lot of people went to Australia, a lot of people -- and I said, sat on the tarmac, forever!

Forever!

Because the State Department was shutting town and saying, we can't verify any of these people.

We can verify who these people were.

We knew who these people were.

Most of the people who we brought out, we can show you their baptismal certificate. Because that was part of our vetting. Are you a Christian?

Really? When were you baptized? Who baptized you? What church did you belong to?

Because we knew you were under the gun. Now, if you were like, yeah, I was just baptized three weeks ago. You didn't get on one of our planes, unless the State Department insisted you get on one of our planes. That's what I was saying on this video, that we just reposted. I was saying in the video. Did you know the compromise that they forced to us take.

You want to save these Christians. You have to save these people. You have to put those people on first.

We don't know who those people are. I don't know who those people are.

And those are were the ones that came to America.

We gambled with the future of these Afghani families. Because we just threw them in.

Just throw them in!

They'll be fine!

We threw them into a system not based on reality, of any sort.

We threw them in, without vetting them!

Meanwhile, we would not take the Christians. Hmm. I want you to know, we should not be attacking anybody, except honestly, condemning our government. Because it refuses to tell the truth on what it did and what it failed to do. The mark of a nation that is in decline isn't -- isn't who it lets in.

A mark of the nation in decline is whether it can confess. It can admit to its own mistakes, talk about the truth and the consequences. And today, Congress is whispering. The media is hiding.
Did you read any of the stories?

Hopefully, you didn't. Hopefully you just had a great time on vacation and the holiday.

But I did. My team did. Did you read the stuff from the New York Times?

They still can't admit the truth. They don't even know what the truth is.

I'm still here waiting for the courage of any adult to stand up. A great nation can welcome the stranger. But a dying nation loses the wisdom to ask who this is stranger?

And that -- that -- that gate we passed long ago.

The question is: Do you want to be a dying nation or not? I don't. I don't.

We can't afford to be a dying nation. The world can't afford us to die. So what do we do about it?

Well, the first step is defending your home. And the first step in defending your home is knowing who is inside your home.

And I will show you how we that do quite easily, in a second.

GLENN: Okay.

Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, by the way. The largest single day of global generosity in the entire year. We have a goal of Mercury One for hurricanes and all kinds of other things we do. $300,000 to our maximum impact fund.

We would like this to make the biggest giving Tuesday Mercury One has ever had. The Maximum Impact Fund allows to us move before we have the money. I come on, and I say, hey. There's a tornado or whatever.

We need to raise that money. But by the time we can get that money from you into the bank, it's maybe, two, three, four days later. We would like to be there when it actually happens. This gives us the leeway of being able to move quickly.

So if you can -- if you can give, whether it's a dollar, $5. Whatever you can give. Whatever you can give.

It gives us. At a moment's notice. The ability to move during a crisis. 100 percent of it, if you don't count the credit card fees. 100 percent of it goes down range. So it goes right directly to what it is, you're trying to solve and help people. We don't pull anything off of the top. That's tomorrow and today. You can give at MercuryOne.org. MercuryOne.org. Give your tax deductible Tuesday gift, MercuryOne.org.

Okay. So first thing is first.

You've got to draw a line in the sand. And here's the word that every -- shuts every conversation down.

It's a word wielded like a club.

And it's to not illuminate anything. It's to silence.

And here's the word. Islamophobia. You say anything about the rising violence in Europe. The honor killings.

The grooming gangs. The refugees, who are not refugees at all. But sleeper cells.

Examine suddenly, you're a bigot. This isn't about bigotry. This is the first line you have to cross.

This is about civilization.

So let's draw the line between faith and ideology.

Because on Islam is a religion. Practiced by a billion people. It contains families that I've met, I know. Doctors I trust. Soldiers who fight beside Americans. Millions of peaceful, devout people who just want what you and I want, to raise their children in peace. But Islamism, an Islamist is not a Muslim. This is something entirely different.

Islamism is not a religion. It is a totalitarian system that wraps itself inside of the language. The way Mark wraps tyranny with equality. Okay? Hitler wrapped conquest with national destiny.

Islamism is Communism with a crescent moon. Islamism is fascism in a mosque, and it has absolutely zero intent of co-existing with the West. It comes not to blend in, but to rule. And if you doubt me, ask the women in Iran. If you doubt me, ask the socialists that helped the Islamic revolution in the 1970s. Ask me what happened to them! Because all of them lost their heads. Ask the Christians of Nigeria. Ask the families in Paris and Berlin and London, who are now living under police patrols, because their leaders were too afraid to speak plainly.

You know, we love to open our arms. That's fine. America always does that. But you must. When you open your arms, keep your eyes open as well!

A refugee seeking freedom is a blessing. A refugee seeking a

CARLY: Is a Trojan horse. And we have every moral right.

Every moral duty. To know the difference!

It's not about hating anybody.

I don't hate anybody.

I hate those who want to destroy us.

Want to kill my family.

Want to enslave me under some sort of religion.

Yeah. I do hate those people.

But this is about loving civilization that gave the world dignity of the individual, the rights of women.

Yeah, it was. Not -- not a caliphate.
The protection of minorities. Not a caliphate, us. The freedom to speak and worship. Or not worship. If defending those values makes me or you controversial, then, wow. Controversy is a very small price to pay. Don't you think? Because the alternative is, oh, I don't know. What's happening in Europe.

The alternative is silence! And silence in history is always the first sign of collapse. So the first thing we have to do is choose speech!

Choose truth. Choose civilization.

Black Friday used to be a WARNING...

Before the door-buster deals and stampedes, “Black Friday” meant total financial panic (gold crashing, markets collapsing). Then in the 1950s, Philadelphia cops reused the term because the day-after-Thanksgiving chaos felt like the end of civilization. But the real twist? FDR moved Thanksgiving itself in 1939 just to give retailers an extra week of Christmas shopping — dividing the country until Congress finally caved in 1941. So, what started as a sacred day of survival and gratitude got permanently hijacked by Washington and big business.

The forgotten truth of Thanksgiving that can SAVE divided families

Every year, family members dread getting together for Thanksgiving due to a rise if political division. Glenn Beck strips away the modern trimmings of Thanksgiving — the parade, the football, the turkey — and takes us back to where it all began: a small band of Pilgrims who lost almost everything yet chose to stop and give thanks to God for the fragile miracle of survival. Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday about abundance. It’s a holiday about gratitude in the face of hardship, humility before unearned blessings, and the recognition that true freedom always costs something. Also, StoryCorps Founder & President Dave Isay joins Glenn to share a story of the difference that one small act of kindness can make.

Jimmy Kimmel's wife admitted something AWFUL about Trump voters

As many families across the nation are mentally preparing to deal with their family members who hold different political beliefs than they do, there's ONE family who isn't, because they've kicked them out of their lives: Jimmy Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney. During a recent podcast appearance, McNearney admitted she lost relationships with some family members after they voted for Trump when she told them not to. Glenn reminisces on a time when family members stayed family, and didn't let political differences get in the way.