Gary Shapley

Gary Allen Shapley Jr. (born December 1977) is an American government official who has served as the deputy chief of the IRS Criminal Investigation since 2025. Shapley also served as the acting commissioner of internal revenue from April 16 to April 18, 2025.

Gary Allen Shapley Jr. was born in December 1977.^[1] He graduated from Norwich High School. Shapley attended Binghamton University and later volunteered for the National Civilian Community Corps. He later graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science in accounting and business administration and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Baltimore.^[2]

Shapley began working in the IRS Criminal Investigation in July 2009.^[2] He oversaw the agency's investigation into Hunter Biden, the son of president Joe Biden. Shapley publicly alleged that the Department of Justice had "slow-walked" the investigation into the younger Biden in an interview with CBS News in May 2023.^[3] Michael Batdorf, the director of field operations at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), claimed that he removed Shapley and his team from the Biden case in December 2022 after David C. Weiss, who oversaw the Biden investigation at the Department of Justice, believed that Shapley could not "remain objective in the investigation";^[4] handwritten notes from Shapley released by Politico in September revealed that he had concerns over Weiss beginning in October 2022.^[5] Biden sued the IRS, him, and Ziegler that month over alleged violations of privacy.^[6] He testified before the House Committee on Ways and Means about the investigation into Biden in June.^[7] His testimony was used by Republicans to critique Weiss's claim that he had independence in his special counsel investigation.^[8] Shapley testified before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform the following month alongside Joseph Ziegler, alleging political bias in Weiss's investigation.^[9] He and Ziegler spoke with the Committee on Ways and Means in December, after the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden began.^[10]

In March 2025, secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent promoted Shapley and Ziegler to senior advisors^[11] to investigate the IRS, including alleged misconduct in the Biden case.^[12] Shapley was named as deputy chief of the IRS Criminal Investigation.^[13]

On April 15, 2025, president Donald Trump named Shapley as the acting commissioner of internal revenue to succeed Melanie Krause, who resigned after administration officials sought to enjoin the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)'s data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.^[14] That day, Trump had asked the IRS to revoke Harvard University's tax exemption.^[15] On April 18, Trump replaced Shapley with Michael Faulkender, the deputy secretary of the treasury, amid a struggle between secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent and Elon Musk. According to The New York Times, Bessent was unaware that Shapley was named acting commissioner.^[16]