The Treasury Department named a pair of Internal Revenue Service agents as special advisors to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and plans key roles for them in reforming the IRS after they complained of mistreatment under the Biden administration while investigating Hunter Biden’s taxes.

Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who were both special agents with the IRS’s Criminal Investigation division, testified in 2023 before the House Oversight Committee claiming then-President Biden’s son Hunter received preferential treatment during a tax evasion investigation, and they had been removed from the investigation after complaining to their supervisors in 2022. Biden agreed to a plea deal in 2023 on both tax and firearms charges with prosecutors, but the plea deal fell apart when it was questioned by a judge and special counsel David Weiss, who had initially agreed to the deal. Biden was later convicted in 2024 of the firearms charges, which related to lying about his drug use on an application for a handgun, and he again pleaded guilty to not paying at least $1.4 million in taxes. He was pardoned by then-President Biden shortly before leaving office in January. 

The two whistleblowers had accused prosecutors and IRS CI officials of not pushing for felony charges, allowing the statute of limitations to expire on some of the tax charges, and retaliating by removing them from the investigation. Their cause has been championed by Republicans in Congress, including Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa, who sent a letter last month to Bessent commending Shapley and Ziegler’s “bravery, courage, expertise and integrity” and asking Bessent to take action to place Shapley and Ziegler in leadership positions. The promotion is a result of Grassley’s direct request.

“As I noted in my letter to Secretary Bessent last month, if we reinstate whistleblowers who have been retaliated against, it will send a clear signal that pointing out wrongdoing is an honorable thing to do,” Grassley said in a statement Tuesday. “It will help change the culture of our bureaucracy. I’m very grateful to Secretary Bessent for supporting Gary and Joe, and I have no doubt they will be a boon to the Treasury Department in their new roles. 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. Far too many whistleblowers share a similar experience of retaliation. I hope today is the first of many redemption stories for whistleblowers who’ve been mistreated. By taking a stand for whistleblowers, President Trump and his cabinet are ushering in a new era of transparency and accountability.”

Bessent hailed their promotion to positions of influence in the Trump administration. “I am 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,” Bessent said in a statement. “These veteran civil servants join us to help further the agency’s focus on collections, modernization, and customer service, so we can deliver a more effective and efficient IRS experience for hardworking American taxpayers. I appreciate Senator Grassley’s efforts in Congress to support whistleblower protections in order to improve transparency, accountability and root out the culture of retaliation.”

Shapley and Ziegler are expected to transition to senior IRS leadership after their stint at the Treasury Department, according to the New York Post. They have reportedly named six IRS officials who they claim retaliated against them and asked for the officials to be disciplined in an official complaint filed with the federal Merit Systems Protection Board. In February, a federal whistleblower protection agency known as the Office of Special Counsel found the IRS had wrongly retaliated against the two men. That same month, Trump fired the head of that agency, Hampton Dellinger, prompting a short-lived court battle before he agreed to drop his appeal of the ouster.

“We are enormously grateful to Secretary Bessent, Senator Grassley, and all of the members of Congress for their leadership and trust,” Shapley and Ziegler said in a joint statement. “We have been motivated by one singular mantra: do what’s right, and do it the right way. It has not been easy, but having a clear conscience is worth the effort. We appreciate the opportunity Secretary Bessent is giving us to put our experience and firsthand knowledge to good use for the American people to eliminate waste and reform the IRS.”

Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Ministry is using artificial intelligence to track down money earned by psychics and fortune tellers as part of a broader drive to combat the informal economy and boost tax revenue. 

The ministry has turned its attention to the rapid growth of online services such as astrology, spiritualism, star charting, magic, meditation and numerology — many of which operate without clear regulation.

According to state-run Anadolu Agency, AI technologies have been engaged to track digital footprints across multiple platforms, including social media, online payment systems and messaging services such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

The initiative builds on Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek’s wider strategy to increase fiscal discipline and shrink the country’s shadow economy, a longstanding challenge for the Turkish state. 

Although earlier efforts to rein in government spending yielded limited results, Simsek’s operation has increasingly focused on revenue generation through measures such as taxing multinational corporations, imposing a minimum corporate tax, levying new taxes on funds, and targeting cash-intensive small businesses, including barbershops, restaurants and auto traders.

An investigation flagged 1,034 individuals as “high risk” and uncovered 1.8 billion liras ($50 million) in undeclared income between 2021 and 2023, Anadolu reported. In addition, 295 individuals were found to be operating without the requisite taxpayer registration. 

In a statement on X, Simsek said the effort to tax unreported service income is intensifying. He urged individuals to report their incomes until April 2, the final day for tax declarations. 

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board today appointed members of its two advisory groups: the Investor Advisory Group and the Standards and Emerging Issues Group.

The IAG was established by the PCAOB to provide investors’ perspectives on the Board’s agenda. The SEIAG was also established by the PCAOB to advise on existing standards, proposed standards, potential new standards and some emerging issues. Members are appointed for two-year terms.

“Advisory groups bring insightful and valuable feedback to the PCAOB to support our investor-protection mission,” PCAOB chair Erica Williams said in a statement. “We thank all IAG and SEIAG members for their willingness to serve and for sharing their valuable time and perspectives with us.”

IAG appointments

Terms expiring Dec. 31, 2026:

• Steven Grey
• Satyam Khanna
• Steven Lipiner (He was appointed to the IAG for a one-year term to replace a member who stepped aside prior to the completion of their two-year term, and his term will expire Dec. 31, 2025.)
• Jeffrey Mahoney
• Amy Copeland McGarrity
• Sandra Peters
• Nemit Shroff
• Gary G. Walsh

Continuing members 
Terms expiring Dec. 31, 2025:

• James Andrus
• Mary M. Bersot
• Jonathan Grabel
• Ken Goldman
• Tracy Sophia Harris
• Paul O’Brien
• Sanford Rich
• Gina Sanchez

SEIG appointments

Terms expiring Dec. 31, 2026:

• Preeti Choudhary
• Brian Croteau
• James Freis, Jr.
• Robert Hirth, Jr.
• Steven Lipiner (He was appointed to the SEIAG for a one-year term to replace a member who stepped aside prior to the completion of their two-year term, and his term will expire Dec. 31, 2025.)
• Jeffrey Mahoney
• Jamila Abston Mayfield
• Sandra Peters
• Laura Phillips
• Stephen Rivera
• Kurt Schacht
• G. Alan Skinner
• John White

Continuing members:
Terms expiring Dec. 31, 2025:

• Christine Davine
• David Fabricant
• Colleen Theresa Honigsberg
• James Hunt
• Jennifer R. Joe
• Carole McNees
• Steven Morrison
• Dane Mott
• Christian James Peo
• Shivaram Rajgopal
• Kecia Williams Smith

More information on the IAG and SEIAG members can be found on the PCAOB’s website.