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Mike Waltz, other National Security Council staffers out in latest Trump purge following Signal chat leak

Trump administration National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and other staffers are out at the National Security Council, sources confirmed to Fox News.

Fox News confirmed Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were ousted Thursday. Sources said additional staffers removed from the office will likely be announced, and President Donald Trump is expected to speak publicly about the matter. 

Waltz, who previously served as a Florida congressman and as a decorated combat Green Beret, has come under fire from Democrats and critics since March, when the Atlantic magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg published a firsthand account of getting added to a Signal group chat with top national security leaders, including Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, while they discussed strikes against Yemen terrorists. 

Waltz took responsibility for the inclusion of a journalist in the group chat, telling Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, ‘I take full responsibility. I built the group,’ he said. ‘It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it.’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital earlier Monday when asked about reports claiming Waltz and others would be shown the door, ‘We are not going to respond to reporting from anonymous sources.’

Trump held a meeting with members of his cabinet on Wednesday following his 100th day back in office Tuesday, with Waltz attending the meeting. 

Following confirmation of Waltz’s ouster, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Fox News, ‘The National Security Advisor Waltz is out. He’s the first. He certainly won’t be the last.’

Wong served as Waltz’s principal deputy national security advisor, who was detailed in the Signal chat leak as the staffer charged with ‘pulling together a tiger team’ in Waltz’s initial message sent to the Signal group chat in March, the Atlantic reported at the time. 

‘Team – establishing a principles [sic] group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours,’ Waltz wrote in the group chat. ‘My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.’

Trump told the media April 3 that a handful of other National Security Council staffers had been let go following the Atlantic’s report on the Signal chat leak, which characterized the Trump administration as texting ‘war plans’ regarding a planned strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen. 

‘Always, we’re going to let go of people we don’t like, or people we don’t think can do the job, or people who may have loyalties to somebody else,’ Trump said from Air Force One on April 3 when asked about reports on the National Security Council firings. 

Trump confirmed at the time that National Security Council members had been fired, but remarked it was not many individuals. He added that he continued to trust his National Security Council team, remarking that they’ve ‘done very well’ and ‘had big success with the Houthis.’  

The Trump administration maintained, however, that no classified material was transmitted in the Signal chat in March, with Trump repeatedly defending Waltz amid the fallout. The strikes on Houthi rebels unfolded on March 15. 

Leavitt told the media in March that the White House considered the Signal group chat leak case ‘closed’ while continuing to offer support to Waltz, whose office allegedly mistakenly added the journalist to the chat. 

‘As the president has made it very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team,’ Leavitt told the media in brief remarks during a gaggle outside the White House’s press room March 31. ‘And this case has been closed here at the White House, as far as we are concerned.’ 

‘There have been steps made to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again,’ she continued. ‘And we’re moving forward. And the president and Mike Waltz and his entire national security team have been working together very well, if you look at how much safer the United States of America is because of the leadership of this team.’ 

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Au revoir! Gobert, Minnesota expose LA’s weaknesses in NBA playoff win

The Los Angeles Lakers’ regular-season success with LeBron James and Luka Doncic and the prospect of a deep playoff run faded and disappeared before May arrived on the West Coast.

No deep playoff run. No chance of a second-round series against Golden State or Houston and no chance of a conference finals series against Oklahoma City.

The Lakers’ season is over, and it took the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves just five games to upend the third-seeded Lakers.

Minnesota took Game 5 103-96, a road victory in which All-Star Anthony Edwards was 0-for-11 on 3-pointers and the Timberwolves were 7-for-47 on 3s. And they still won.

Since the NBA went from best-of-five to best-of-seven in the first round in 2003, the No. 6 seed has beaten the No. 3 seed 10 times. But don’t let Minnesota’s seed fool you. The Timberwolves, who reached last year’s Western Conference finals, are also capable of a deep playoff run.

Lakers coach JJ Redick, before he got testy with a reporter’s question and ended his pregame news conference before Game 5, said, “Any team that we play is going to be a challenge, and Minnesota has been more than a formidable challenge. They’re a really good basketball team.”

Edwards had a superior supporting cast than James and Doncic, and that includes Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert who demolished the Lakers in Game 5 with 27 points, 24 rebounds and two blocks.

The final game of the series was a microcosm of the series. Minnesota exposed the Lakers’ weaknesses over and over.

The Timberwolves outrebounded the Lakers 54-37, leading to a 20-10 edge in second-chance points. The Lakers also committed 15 turnovers, reducing their offensive opportunities, they were outscored in points in the paint 56-40 and were outscored 22-4 in bench points.

Those were issues for the Lakers throughout the series. Didn’t rebound enough. Didn’t defend enough. Didn’t have roster flexibility or depth.

Los Angeles rescinded the trade it made for Charlotte center Mark Williams at the trade deadline, but the Lakers rescinded the deal after the deadline expired, leaving it with no option to make an improvement at center or power forward.

Doncic played at least 40 minutes in all five games, and James played at least 40 minutes in the final four games, including 46 minutes in Game 4. They struggled offensively in the fourth quarter, including a combined 4-for-18 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter of Games 4 and 5.

That isn’t to shortchange the Timberwolves. Clearly, they were the better team, had the two-way players to make offense difficult for James and Doncic, and Julius Randle scored 27, 22, 25 and 23 points in the final four games of the series.

Whether the Timberwolves face Golden State or Houston in the second round – the Warriors lead the series 3-2 and Game 6 is Friday in San Francisco – they can win the series.

Follow NBA columnist Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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MLB fan in critical condition after falling out of stands onto field

A fan is in critical condition after he fell out of the outfield stands and onto the warning track at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park during the April 30 game between the Pirates and Chicago Cubs.

The incident occurred during the bottom of the seventh inning.

Per a video shared on social media, the fan appeared to be sitting in the front row of seats in right before he tumbled over the top rail and fell to the dirt below. The scary fall was from one of the highest stretches of seats in the outfield — the tallest fence in the outfield is right field at 21 feet, per the Pirates, in honor of Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, who wore the number and manned right field.

The fan received medical attention on the field and was placed on a backboard and taken off on a cart, per social media videos.

In an update Thursday morning, Pittsburgh Public Safety said the incident was being treated as an accident and that the man remained in critical condition

The Pirates released a statement about the incident after the game, which was restarted after a brief delay (the Pirates won 4-3):

‘Tonight, during the seventh inning of the game at PNC Park, an adult male fell from the right field bleachers onto the field of play. Pittsburgh EMS, as well as the Pirates and Cubs athletic training teams and other PNC Park personnel reacted and responded immediately and administered care. He was transported to Allegheny General Hospital.

‘No further information is available at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.’

Pittsburgh Public Safety said ‘VCU detectives are investigating’ the incident.

In the past 15 years, at least two fans have died as the result of significant falls that occurred at MLB stadiums. One occurred at the Texas Rangers’ old stadium in 2011; another took place at Turner Field, the former home of the Atlanta Braves, in 2015. 

This story has been updated with new information.

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JD Vance explains why meeting Pope Francis hours before his death was ‘a sign from God’

: Washington, D.C. — Vice President JD Vance reflected on his meeting with Pope Francis, just hours before the Holy Father passed away, telling Fox News Digital it was a ‘great honor’ and a ‘sign from God’ to cherish life. 

Vance sat for an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Wednesday. 

The vice president told Fox News Digital that he met Pope Francis on Easter Sunday but ‘didn’t plan to see the Holy Father because he was ill.’ 

‘But we were invited to come and visit with him before he went and did his Easter mass appearance,’ Vance explained. 

‘I was one of, if not the very last world leader to actually meet with the pope,’ Vance said. ‘I took one of my relatively junior staffers, who is a devout Catholic, and I looked back at him when he was about to meet the pope, and he was crying—it sort of drives home how important this, not just this man, but this institution is to over a billion people worldwide.’

‘There are 1.5 billion practicing Catholics in the world, so that was a very big moment,’ Vance said. 

Vance told Fox News Digital that he had a ‘very gracious meeting’ with the pope on Easter Sunday.  

‘The pope was very kind—he was obviously very frail,’ Vance said. ‘We didn’t spend a lot of time together. It was mostly exchanging pleasantries, but he gave a few gifts—he gave my kids Easter baskets, and there was just this very sweet moment.’ 

During the meeting, the pope gave the Catholic vice president three big chocolate Easter eggs for Vance’s three young children, who did not attend, as well as a Vatican tie and rosaries.

‘I definitely cherish it,’ Vance said. 

Following their meeting, the vice president went to Easter Sunday Mass in Rome at the Tomb of St. Paul with his family, before getting on a plane to India. 

‘I was very excited about that trip—my wife’s parents are from India and I’d never been there,’ said Vance. ‘And about an hour after we landed, a staffer came over and said, ‘Sir, the pope died.’’

‘I obviously felt very sad, and my thought went immediately to the pope, but also to all these Catholics who love him,’ Vance said. 

‘But then it kind of hit me—oh my God—I was one of the last people to talk to him,’ Vance said. ‘I just take it as a great honor and a sign from God to remember that you never know when your last day on this Earth is.’ 

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SCOOP: 38 GOP lawmakers say not repealing Biden’s green agenda in Trump tax bill is ‘hypocrisy’

The House GOP’s standoff over the former Biden administration’s green energy subsides is colliding with Republicans’ plans for a massive bill advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Thirty-eight House Republicans are writing to Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., the chamber’s top tax writer, urging a full repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the coming budget reconciliation bill.

‘We are deeply concerned that President Trump’s commitment to restoring American energy dominance and ending what he calls the ‘green new scam’ is being undermined by parochial interests and short-sighted political calculations,’ the lawmakers wrote.

They argued the IRA subsidies would cost American taxpayers roughly $1 trillion over the next decade.

‘The IRA contains eight major energy subsidies, each of which burdens taxpayers, inflates energy costs, and threatens the reliability of our power grid. Each of these subsidies props up unreliable energy sources while displacing dependable, proven energy like coal and natural gas,’ the letter said.

The lawmakers then took direct aim at fellow Republicans who are pushing for some of the credits to remain intact.

‘Republicans ran—and won—on a promise to completely dismantle the IRA and end the left’s green welfare agenda. The first chapter of our 2024 platform reaffirms our commitment to ‘terminating the Socialist Green New Deal.’ Despite our previously unified stance, some Members of our conference now feel compelled to defend wind and biofuel credits, advocate for carbon capture and hydrogen subsidies, or protect solar and electric vehicle giveaways,’ the letter said. ‘Keeping even one of these subsidies opens the door to retaining all eight.’

‘How do we retain some of these credits and not operate in hypocrisy? The longstanding Republican position has been to allow the market to determine energy production. If every faction continues to defend their favored subsidies, we risk preserving the entire IRA because no clearly defined principle will dictate what is kept and what is culled.’

Republicans are working on a massive piece of legislation advancing Trump’s agenda on taxes, border security, national defense and energy, while also raising the debt limit.

The budget reconciliation process allows them to do that by lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, thereby allowing the party controlling Congress and the White House to pass sweeping legislation while sidelining the opposition, in this case Democrats.

Conservative fiscal hawks successfully got House GOP leaders to agree that the trillions of dollars of new spending in the bill – primarily for Trump’s tax policies – must be offset by at least $1.5 trillion in federal funding cuts.

Former President Joe Biden’s IRA subsidies have been a significant flash point in that fight.

In March, 21 House Republicans signed a letter urging their colleagues to preserve the green energy tax credit.

‘Countless American companies are utilizing sector-wide energy tax credits – many of which have enjoyed broad support in Congress – to make major investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure for traditional and renewable energy sources alike,’ they wrote.

That letter pointed out that investments have already been made in American entities with the understanding that those subsidies would have a 10-year window.

‘These timelines have been relied upon when it comes to capital allocation, planning, and project commitments, all of which would be jeopardized by premature credit phase outs or additional restrictive mechanisms such as limiting transferability,’ it said.

They argued that changing that now could lead to rising energy costs for American families.

The anti-IRA Republicans, however, said in their letter that the U.S.’ growing green energy sector was the product of government handouts rather than genuine sustainable growth.

‘Leaving IRA subsidies intact will actively undermine America’s return to energy dominance and national security,’ they said. ‘They are the result of government subsidies that distort the U.S. energy sector, displace reliable coal and natural gas and the domestic jobs they produce, and put the stability and independence of our electric grid in jeopardy.’

Meanwhile, House GOP leaders like House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have made clear they have issues with the wider bill, but share concerns about ending measures in use under the current administration and risking political blowback in GOP districts that have seen investments by entities that have benefited from the subsidies.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Ways & Means Committee for comment but did not hear back by press time.

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DOGE says it’s referred dozens of potential voter fraud cases to DOJ

DOGE has referred 57 cases of potential voter fraud to the U.S. Justice Department, a DOGE official noted, Fox News Digital has reported.

Antonio Gracias noted that the individuals were ‘resident aliens who were registered to vote and may or may not have voted in elections,’ according to NBC News.

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday, a DOJ spokesperson noted, ‘DOGE has assisted agencies and departments in identifying potential cases of fraud which have been referred to the Department of Justice. DOGE is working closely with DOJ to identify potential fraud.’ 

Fox News Digital was invited, along with a small group of reporters, to have an on-the-record discussion with Elon Musk in the White House’s Roosevelt Room on Wednesday evening.

‘The wheels of justice turn slowly but, hopefully, surely,’ Musk said. ‘When we find cases of fraud, we refer those cases to the DOJ — it is not DOGE prosecuting anyone.’ 

Musk, the hard-charging business tycoon who has been spearheading the DOGE initiative, has indicated that he plans to spend less time on the effort going forward.

‘Not stepping down, just reducing time allocation now that @DOGE is established,’ he noted in a post on X last week.

‘The federal government is a gigantic beast — very complicated — and so if you’re trying to figure out how to stop waste and fraud, you’ve got to map the territory,’ Musk said on Wednesday. ‘That required three months of intense effort, and you have to build the team as well.’ 

‘A new administration is like a start-up,’ Musk continued. ‘Now, we’re getting more of a rhythm and so the amount of time necessary for me to spend here is much less and I can return to primarily running my companies, which do need me.’ 

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Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero fight features return of legendary voice

Jim Lampley is entering the ring again. His ring – a place the award-winning announcer called home for more than 30 years until HBO Boxing turned off the lights in 2018.

The Emmy winner, 76, is scheduled to call a boxing card featuring Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez on Friday in Times Square. It’ll be the first time in more than six years viewers will hear the smooth-toned, distinctive voice on the blow-by-blow call.

“I had dispensed with the notion that anybody was ever going to ask me to call fights again,’’ Lampley told USA TODAY Sports. “So it’s thrilling. It really is.’’

Fred Sternburg, a publicist inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, said he thinks Lampley might become the oldest announcer to handle blow-by-blow duties.

“If it’s a fact, it scares me,’’ said Lampley, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015. “But being scared is often good.’’

So says the announcer who covered 14 Olympics and called legendary boxing matches such as Buster Douglas’ shocking knockout victory over Mike Tyson in 1990 and George Foreman winning the heavyweight title at age 45 with a knockout of then 26-year-old Michael Moorer in 1994.

Now it’ll be Garcia vs. Rolando “Rolly’’ Romero, Haney vs. Jose Carlos Ramirez and Lopez vs. Arnold Barboza Jr. Lampley has had to prepare while promoting his recently released memoir – “It Happened! A Uniquely Lucky Life In Sports Television,’’ – and also welcoming a 12th grandchild into his blended family.

And now, a new chapter unfolds in New York.

“You don’t expect at my age to become the busiest man on the planet,’’ Lampley said, “but I kind of feel as though I am at this particular time.’’

How did Jim Lampley boxing return unfold?

On Feb. 1, Lampley was at the David Benavidez-David Morrell Jr. fight when members of the media found him. They called his attention to a post on X from Turki Al-Sheikh, the Saudi who’s become arguably the most powerful figure in boxing.

“I would like to have and invite Mr. Jim Lampley on the live broadcast of one of our upcoming cards,’’ the post read.

They were words Lampley had been waiting to hear since HBO shuttered its boxing division.

“It was a change in his life that he maybe still hasn’t entirely gotten over,’’ said Lampley’s wife, Debra, who of HBO’s Boxing closing down added, “It was dark days. They still had his contract, so he couldn’t work anyplace else.’’

When HBO bought out Lampley’s contract in 2020, the offers he thought would come never did.

So Lampley, who lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, taught a class in media for five semesters at his alma mater, North Carolina. Then, in 2023, he joined PPV.com, for whom he has co-hosted a live viewer chat during pay-per-view fights and also interviewed boxers. He was visible again.

Then came Al-Sheikh’s post. Followed by a meeting with the Saudi power broker.

“I shook his hand, I looked him in the eye,’’ Lampley said. “I have a personal relationship now and a friendship with Turki Al-Sheikh.’’

Perhaps a friendship that could lead to more announcing work for Lampley?

“Let’s do one and see what Turki thinks about it,’’ Lampley said. “It’s all up to him. … I’m not going to jump the gun or take any step ahead beyond where he wants to be. And all I know for certain about where he wants to be is let’s do this. So let’s do this and not get ahead of ourselves.’’

Jim Lampley, John Grisham and a book tour

On April 24, best-selling author John Grisham appeared with Lampley at a book signing event in Chapel Hill to help promote Lampley’s book.

“If you had told me a year ago, oh, you’ll be promoting your own book and John Grisham will be your co-host at a bookstore, I would’ve thought, this is insane,’’ Lampley said. “What are we talking about here? And we sold a hundred books, which is a pretty good haul.’’

Soon Lampley and his wife will be traveling to California to continue promoting the book. But first comes fight night.

“Am I going to be underprepared? I sort of feel like that might possibly be the case,’’ Lampley said. “I felt under-prepared for every one of the hundreds of fights that I called in my career leading up to this point. And I will feel the same way again next Friday night.

“In a way that’s good because it leaves you open to the spontaneous discovery of whatever happens in front of you in the fight, and you never know for sure.’’

Garcia, the featured fighter on the boxing card Friday night, is among those excited about Lampley’s return.

‘That’s one of the biggest things I think boxing was missing,” Garcia said. ‘A great voice, great commentator, and he tells the story good while you’re fighting. … I mean, he’s the best in the game. So for him to come back is huge. Shout out Turki for that.”

Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero

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‘Shib Sibs’ announce stunning return to figure skating competition

Maia and Alex Shibutani are making a stunning return to competitive figure skating.

The ‘Shib Sibs’ announced Thursday morning that they will be back in competition next season ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, returning to the sport more than seven years after they last skated for Team USA. Maia Shibutani, now 30, and Alex Shibutani, now 34, stepped away from figure skating after winning Olympic bronze in ice dance at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

‘Our experiences and the new skills we’ve developed during our time away from competition have brought us different perspectives and created some exciting new possibilities,’ Alex Shibutani said in a news release. ‘We don’t take any of this for granted. We’re really enjoying the process and look forward to performing and competing together again.’

The Shibutani siblings are among the most prominent ice dancing teams in U.S. history. After making their senior world championships debut in 2011, they went on to win three world medals, two national titles and two Olympic medals − in the ice dance and team events at the 2018 Games. They were inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2023, which was their first year of eligibility.

While the Shibutanis never formally announced their retirement, they were thought to be done after the 2018 Winter Olympics. Following those Games, they declined to compete at the 2018 world championships and said they would be taking a year off. Maia Shibutani then had surgery in late 2019 to remove a tumor from one of her kidneys, which was found to be cancerous.

As she recovered, the siblings began to shift their focus to other endeavors, writing four children’s books and trying new roles in choreography, photography and other creative lanes.

‘These past seven years have challenged and inspired us in ways we never expected,’ Maia Shibutani said in a statement. ‘I’m so happy and grateful to be healthy and in a position to make the decision to return to the sport I love in this way.’

The Shibutanis announced they will be training with two of their longtime coaches, Marina Zoueva and Massimo Scali − presumably with hopes of making it back to the Olympic Games for a third time. They finished ninth at the 2014 Sochi Games.

The ‘Shib Sibs’ will join a competitive U.S. ice dancing field that had one of its best ever performances at the most recent world figure skating championships in Boston, led by Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who won their third consecutive title. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko finished just off the podium in fifth, followed by Caroline Green and Michael Parsons in ninth. Only three U.S. ice dance teams will compete in Milan.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.

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Rockets vs. Warriors: Houston showcases speed. Is rout an aberration?

Was this — a blowout in a potential closeout game — an aberration, or did the Houston Rockets just unlock a formula to steal this series from the Golden State Warriors?

Wednesday night was just one game, so it’s difficult to put too much stock into this being an NBA playoffs series-defining momentum shift that spells trouble for the experienced and well-coached Warriors. But Houston’s 131-116 demolition showed that the Rockets’ best bet is unleashing their speed and athleticism to destabilize Golden State’s offense.

Still, the Warriors need just one win to dispatch the No. 2 seed.

But from tipoff, this game felt different.

The Rockets pressed Golden State on defense, using their length and speed to force the Warriors into long possessions and making Golden State work deep into the shot clock. The Rockets often forced turnovers, swiping seven steals before halftime. Houston also dropped into a zone, further slowing and frustrating Golden State’s operation.

Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, the two prominent Warriors players, missed their first seven combined shots, and forward Amen Thompson lulled Curry into a pair of uncharacteristic early giveaways.

The saving grace for Golden State was its bench, which scored 21 of the team’s first 29 points. But, by the time Golden State had scored its 29th point, the Rockets were already up by 25.

The Warriors clearly cannot compete against elite teams in the West if both Curry and Butler are off.

Houston’s defensive assault and subsequent up-tempo pace injected confidence and flow into the young offense. At the half, the Rockets were shooting a ridiculous 69.4% from the field — including 9-of-15 (60%) from 3. Houston also hammered the paint, with a 28-12 advantage there. Those seven Rockets steals before halftime also sparked a 10-2 lead on fastbreak points headed into the locker room.

And, as Golden State tried to contain Houston’s speed, the Warriors found themselves out of position; the Rockets made 20 trips to the free throw stripe by the end of the second quarter, converting 17.

It was telling that Warriors coach Steve Kerr subbed out his veteran Big 3 of Curry, Butler and Draymond Green with 5:50 left to play … in the third quarter. It was a concession that showed Kerr understood this was a lost game.

The Warriors did eventually close the gap to 14 on a 25-7 run, but that was sparked by Golden State’s third-string players after Kerr had emptied the bench.

Kerr, however, is a four-time NBA champion as a head coach, and one of the premier minds in basketball. He and the Warriors will almost certainly scheme up tweaks to try to neutralize Houston’s pace ahead of Friday’s Game 6 matchup in San Francisco.

The Rockets are trying to become just the 14th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to advance in the playoffs, a deficit that has claimed a whopping 95.5% of teams that have encountered it.

Wednesday night showed if Houston is to push this series to the brink, it must keep leaning into its speed and athleticism — things that the Warriors cannot match on the floor, no matter what Kerr draws up on the clipboard.

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Hunter Biden drops lawsuit against IRS, which whistleblowers say ‘tells you everything you need to know’

Hunter Biden on Wednesday dropped the lawsuit he filed against two Internal Revenue Service whistle-blowers in September 2023. 

Biden’s attorneys brought a motion in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be brought again in any court. 

The lawsuit, initially filed by the former first son two years ago, alleged that IRS Special Agent Gary Shapley and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler had ‘targeted and sought to embarrass’ Biden through statements to the media disclosing the details of the tax matters of a ‘private citizen.’ 

Shapley and Zielger had testified before the House Oversight Committee earlier that year, saying they faced various limitations when tasked with investigating former President Joe Biden’s son. 

‘It’s always been clear that the lawsuit was an attempt to intimidate us,’ Shapley and Zielger said in a statement after Hunter Biden dropped the case, according to the New York Post. ‘Intimidation and retaliation were never going to work. We truly wanted our day in court to provide the complete story, but it appears Mr. Biden was afraid to actually fight this case in a court of law after all.’

‘His voluntary dismissal of the case tells you everything you need to know about who was right and who was wrong,’ they added. 

Lawyers for the two whistle-blowers first emphasized how Hunter Biden ‘dismissed his case with prejudice – meaning he can never bring it again,’ and did so ‘in exchange for nothing at all.’

‘Hunter Biden brought this lawsuit against two honorable federal agents in retaliation for blowing the whistle on the preferential treatment he was given,’ the attorneys said, according to the Post.

Four of Hunter Biden’s attorneys – Abbe David Lowell, Christopher Man, David Kolansky and Isabella Oishi – moved to withdraw as the former first son’s counsel about a month ago. 

The Justice Department had been investigating Hunter Biden for several years for possible tax crimes when Shapley’s lawyers sent a letter to Congress alleging ‘irregularities’ in the DOJ handling of the investigation, and he sat down with CBS News in May 2023 about his decision to blow the whistle. 

Hunter Biden’s plea deal, which would have granted him broad immunity from prosection in exchange for admitting guilt to two misdemeanor tax counts, fell apart during a July 2023 federal court hearing in Delaware. 

Hunter Biden later pleaded guilty in September 2024 to all nine federal tax charges brought against him by special counsel David Weiss. It was determined that Biden failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019. He later paid it back.

In December, former President Biden granted his son a sweeping pardon, granting Hunter clemency from all crimes he ‘has committed or may have committed’ over the past decade. 

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