No deal for now as Hunter Biden’s bumpy ride in court for tax misdemeanors, gun charge goes off rails

Hunter Biden is seen in profile wearing a blue suit jacket as he walks into a courtroom for his plea agreement hearing.

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden arrives for a court appearance, Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The IRS has responded to Hunter Biden’s lawsuit by asking a federal judge to partially dismiss one count and to dismiss a Privacy Act violation count “in its entirety,” writing that President Joe Biden’s son failed to show the agency’s alleged lack of “safeguards” to prevent two whistleblowers and their attorneys from disclosing his “confidential tax return information” in media interviews caused him to suffer “actual damages.”

The government began by arguing that count 1 — willful or grossly negligent unauthorized disclosure — should be dismissed insofar as it attempts to hold Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler’s attorneys accountable. Why? Because the lawyers aren’t officers or employees of the United States.

“The United States is immune from suit unless it has explicitly waived its immunity,” the government wrote, noting such a waiver of sovereign immunity would “only” occur “if the disclosures were made by an ‘officer or employee of the United States.”” The IRS said, however, that Hunter Biden “may seek redress against” the attorneys under I.R.C. § 7431(a)(2) — the part of a civil damages statute dealing with unauthorized disclosures of tax info by non-governmental actors [see also: 26 U.S. Code § 6103(a)(3)].

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