Attorneys representing multiple IRS whistleblowers sent letters to a host of figures on Capitol Hill this week, claiming their clients had faced internal reprisals from the agency in connection with the federal inquiry into Hunter Biden, Fox News Digital has learned.
The first two letters, addressed to the Office of the Special Counsel and IRS commissioner Daniel Werfel respectively, allege that the IRS retaliated against the whistelblowers by passing them over for deserved promotions and removing them from existing roles. The third letter, addressed to committee chairs and ranking members in Congress, demands further action to protect government whisteblowers from such retaliation.
“The IRS must immediately cease and desist intimidating our client for simply exercising his Constitutional right to petition Congress and his statutory right against retaliation for doing so,” the letter addressed to Werfel said.
The attorneys, Empower Oversight president Tristan Leavitt and Nixon Peabody partner Mark Lylte, wrote in the third letter to express their disappointment with Congress’ lack of action on the issue. They say they first informed Congress earlier in May that their client had “been told that he and his entire investigative team would be removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress.”
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IRS whistleblowers relating to the inquiry into Hunter Biden, right, say they faced internal reprisals from the agency after coming forward. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
“It is unclear to us what, if anything, you have done or will do with this information to help protect our client and other IRS employees with similar concerns from further reprisal,” the attorneys added.
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Fox News is told that various congressional committees are trying to look deeper into these allegations and make contact with these whistleblowers, whose names were redacted from the letters obtained by Fox News.
“We became aware that even after receiving the May 15 letter to Congress, the IRS has inexplicably decided to initiate additional reprisals against these special agents, apparently for a protected disclosure directly to you. This is unacceptable and contrary to the law, which clearly prohibits it,” the third letter read.
Danny Werfel, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, received a letter from lawyers representing IRS whistleblowers who claim they faced reprisals from the agency after coming forward. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The IRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The lawyers went on to argue that it is the “constitutional duty” of Congress to act as a check on the executive and ensure that whistleblower protections have “real meaning.”
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“Failing to act would send a chillingly clear message that discourages other whistleblowers from providing you with information and encourages retaliators to keep silencing employees without fear of scrutiny or consequences,” the attorneys wrote.
READ ALL THREE LETTERS BELOW:
