(WASHINGTON) — The Treasury Department has promoted two IRS whistleblowers who accused the Justice Department under President Joe Biden of granting his son, Hunter Biden, special treatment during a yearslong probe into his tax affairs.
Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, two veteran IRS investigators, will serve as senior advisors to incoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said in a statement on Tuesday that he was “pleased to welcome Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler to the Treasury Department, where they will help us drive much-needed cultural reform within the IRS.”
Shapley and Ziegler came forward in 2023 with allegations that the Biden administration improperly interfered in an investigation into Hunter Biden’s unpaid taxes led by then-U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss — claims that Justice Department and FBI officials fiercely disputed at the time.
“It appeared to me, based on what I experienced, that the U.S. Attorney in Delaware in our investigation was constantly hamstrung, limited and marginalized by DOJ officials,” Ziegler said during congressional testimony in July 2023.
Days after Shapley and Ziegler testified on Capitol Hill, a plea deal negotiated by Hunter Biden and the Justice Department fell apart under questioning from a federal judge. The deal would have allowed Hunter Biden to plead guilty to a pair of tax-related misdemeanors and enter into a pretrial diversion agreement on a felony gun charge.
Weiss, the Trump-appointed prosecutor who led the probe into Hunter Biden, repeatedly refuted the claims leveled by Shapley and Ziegler and asserted that he faced no political pressure from Biden administration officials to grant Hunter Biden any special treatment.
Hunter Biden later pleaded guilty to nine tax-related charges, including multiple felonies. His father granted him a sweeping pardon in the waning weeks of his presidency.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, touted his role in securing promotions for Shapley and Ziegler in a statement Tuesday. Grassley said he wrote Bessent multiple letters encouraging him to promote the two whistleblowers.
“Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler put their entire careers on the line to stand up for the truth, and instead of being thanked, the Biden administration treated them like skunks at a picnic,” Grassley wrote in a press release. “I hope today is the first of many redemption stories for whistleblowers who’ve been mistreated.”
A 13-year-old was apprehended for allegedly targeting young girls in a string of home invasions in Michigan, authorities said. Oakland County Sheriff’s Office
(DETROIT) — A 13-year-old was apprehended for allegedly targeting young girls in a string of home invasions in Michigan, authorities said.
The teen was allegedly involved in nine break-ins in Pontiac and two in Detroit, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
On Feb. 4, the suspect — who was wearing a ski mask and was armed with a knife — choked a sleeping 10-year-old girl, according to the sheriff’s office. The girl screamed, and then her mom saw the suspect run down the stairs and out of the house, the sheriff’s office said.
“This is the worst nightmare for any parent — that somebody might be trying to climb in through a window to get after their kids, especially a young teenage girl,” Bouchard said at a news conference.
There were few physical injuries, but Bouchard stressed the immense “emotional trauma” of being targeted in bed.
The break-ins began two years ago, Bouchard said. The suspect allegedly looked for unlocked windows and had a knife during several incidents, he said.
Charges are not yet clear. The 13-year-old’s parent has been cooperative, Bouchard said.
(PHILADELPHIA) — An 18-year-old man who was celebrating the Philadelphia Eagles victory over the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game on Sunday has died after he fell from a light pole during the celebrations, officials said.
Temple University announced the death of first-year student Tyler Sabapathy, 18, who sustained critical injuries over the weekend and died on Tuesday.
The tragedy happened Sunday night at 15th and Market streets in Center City Philadelphia where video shows the teen above on the street pole before he fell onto the concrete sidewalk flat on his back, hitting his head, according to ABC News’ Philadelphia station WPVI.
He was taken to Jefferson Hospital with a brain injury and pronounced dead two days later.
Sabapathy was a Toronto native and accomplished gymnast with over 120 medals, was majoring in exercise and sport science at Temple’s College of Public Health, school administrators said. He was also a dedicated member of the university’s club gymnastics team.
“It is with deep sadness that we write to share news of the death of first-year student Tyler Sabapathy. Over the weekend, Tyler sustained critical injuries and ultimately passed away this afternoon,” said John Fry, Temple’s president, and Jodi Bailey, vice president for student affairs, in a statement obtained by ABC News.
“The loss of a promising 18-year-old man like Tyler is both tragic and traumatic. There are no words that can make sense of it, and the entire Temple community mourns his passing. Our hearts go out to Tyler’s family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved him,” the statement continued.
“He no doubt had a bright future ahead of him, and it is so tragic that we will not be able to see how he would have made his mark on the world,” school administrators said. “As a member of the university’s club gymnastics team, Tyler displayed exceptional self-discipline and work ethic, spending countless hours a week training and honing his craft. He was loved by his teammates, friends and coaches here in Philadelphia.”
Philadelphia police had an internal briefing on Tuesday to review Sunday’s response and discuss what strategies they will use during the next possible celebration, which could be in just two weeks, according to WPVI.
City officials did not say if they greased the poles on Sunday, adding that they don’t want to release public safety tactics, WPVI said.
Meanwhile, Temple University said grief counselors will be available for students and staff.
“We extend our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies to those closest to Tyler, especially his parents and siblings,” school officials said. “He will be deeply missed.”
(WASHINGTON) — Fourteen states have filed a federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, challenging Musk’s role as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency and accusing him of being a “designated agent of chaos” whose “sweeping authority” is in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
“Musk’s seemingly limitless and unchecked power to strip the government of its workforce and eliminate entire departments with the stroke of a pen, or a click of a mouse, would have been shocking to those who won this country’s independence,” reads the complaint, which was filed Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Led by the state of New Mexico, the lawsuit argues — in often dramatic terms — that the Appointments Clause of the Constitution calls for someone with such significant and “expansive authority” as Musk to be formally nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
“There is no greater threat to democracy than the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single, unelected individual,” says the lawsuit, filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez and officials from Arizona, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Nevada, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. “Although our constitutional system was designed to prevent the abuses of an 18th century monarch, the instruments of unchecked power are no less dangerous in the hands of a 21st century tech baron.” Two of the 14 states are led by Republican governors.
Separately, 26 current and former USAID employees and contractors brought suit against Musk Thursday in a lawsuit that makes the same constitutional claim. That suit, filed in federal court in Maryland, asks a judge to block Musk and any DOGE subordinates from continuing their budget-slashing work unless Musk is nominated by Trump for an official position and confirmed by the Senate.
“The scope and reach of his executive authority appear unprecedented in U.S. history,” that lawsuit says. “His power includes, at least, the authority to cease the payment of congressionally approved funds, access sensitive and confidential data across government agencies, cut off systems access to federal employees and contractors at will, and take over and dismantle entire independent federal agencies.”
The suit filed by the 14 states says the Constitution blocks the president from overriding “existing laws concerning the structure of the Executive Branch and federal spending.” As a result, the suit says, the commander-in-chief from is forbidden from creating — or even “extinguishing” — federal agencies, and from “slashing federal programs or offering lengthy severance packages as a means of radically winnowing the federal workforce,” in a nod to the Trump administration’s “deferred retirement” offer to government employees.
DOGE, led by Musk as the centerpiece of Trump’s campaign promise to trim the federal government, has found itself in the crosshairs of multiple federal lawsuits, which allege that it has improperly accessed sensitive records and is unlawfully gutting government agencies. Federal judges have temporarily blocked DOGE from accessing sensitive data at the Treasury Department, while the Department of Education recently reached an agreement to limit DOGE’s access to student loan records.
A lawsuit challenging the dismantling of USAID also resulted in a temporary order that blocks the agency from placing more than 2,000 employees on leave.
“[T]he President does not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally dismantle the government. Nor could he delegate such expansive authority to an unelected, unconfirmed individual,” Thursday’s lawsuit says.
The Appointments Clause of the Constitution has generally been interpreted to require that anyone deemed a “principal officer” of the U.S. government must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The White House has called Musk a “special government employee” as head of DOGE.
But in their lawsuit Thursday, the states insisted that Musk has such “significant authority” and such “unprecedented and seemingly limitless access across the federal government,” while reporting “solely to President Trump,” that he is actually serving as a “principal officer.”
“Musk is far more than an adviser to the White House,” the lawsuit says. “He executes the President’s agenda by exercising virtually unchecked power across the entire Executive branch, making decisions about expenditures, contracts, government property, regulations, and the very existence of federal agencies.”
The lawsuit claims that Musk’s DOGE “has inserted itself into at least 17 federal agencies,” and that Musk has “authority to direct and veto the staffing decisions of” multiple federal agencies.
“The specifics of Musk’s conduct within various agencies confirm that he is wielding the power of a principal officer, a principal officer that has never previously existed,” the lawsuit says.
“As a result, all of Musk’s actions are [beyond his authority] and contrary to law,” says the suit.
The 14 states are asking a federal judge to at least temporarily limit Musk’s ability to cut or otherwise overhaul federal agencies, and they want the judge to declare “that Musk’s officer-level governmental actions to date, including those of his subordinates and designees” are unlawful.
Both Musk and the Trump administration have insisted that Musk and DOGE are simply rooting out vast government waste and potentially even criminal corruption within federal agencies.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has repeatedly said Musk is “complying with all applicable federal laws.”
