WASHINGTON, DC- The IRS-Criminal Investigation division (IRS-CI) has been making headlines lately—not for high-level takedowns or landmark financial crimes cases, but for whistleblowing scandals, leadership failures, and growing questions about its internal culture. A whistleblower recently approached Law Enforcement Today with firsthand knowledge of the agency's failures.
Former Acting IRS Director Gary Shapley stepped forward to expose misconduct in the Hunter Biden investigation, which nearly ended his career. Shapley became a pariah inside the agency for daring to tell the truth. But to some agents who still care about justice, his courage was a breath of fresh air in a system that too often rewards silence and punishes integrity.
Make no mistake: what Shapley exposed was not an isolated case. It’s emblematic of a broader, corrosive culture at IRS-CI—one where investigations are routinely shut down, accountability is scarce, and competent agents are sidelined while ineptitude is quietly promoted.
Part of the problem is structural. After years of hiring freezes, CI’s workforce is split between new agents with less than five years of experience and old-timers counting down to retirement. Leadership is almost exclusively composed of the latter group—the so-called “accountants with guns” who’ve been mocked in the media. But the reality is more serious than satire. These leaders often lack the drive, awareness, or even the basic law enforcement mindset needed to run modern investigations. And the consequences are real: in 2023, a CI agent was fatally shot by a colleague during firearms training in Phoenix—a tragic illustration of the agency’s dangerous complacency.
Our source tells us that the dysfunction is especially visible in the CI’s Houston Field Office, which has been in free fall since Acting Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Lucy Z. Tan took over in June 2024. Her tenure has been marked by micromanagement, retaliation, and bias. Agents openly questioned her leadership during a March 2025 virtual town hall, asking when the previous SAC would return. “That’s not a routine complaint—that’s desperation,” our source told us.
Worse, our source told us that CI’s unusually long three-year probationary period for new agents allows SACs like Tan near-total control over their futures. Agents can be terminated for vaguely defined “performance” issues, often with little to no oversight. This power imbalance breeds fear and opens the door to abuse, which our source has not only seen but experienced.
Take the case of Special Agent Nickolas Harriman. He led a December 2024 arrest operation that went spectacularly wrong. His team—relying on poor surveillance and incomplete planning—raided the wrong apartment, terrifying an innocent family that included elderly residents and children. The target lived in a different building altogether. This wasn’t a minor paperwork error. It was an operational failure that could’ve ended in bloodshed, especially in Texas where many households are legally armed.
The use of force coordinator for the office is a man named Mike Mannix. Our course told us that, according to policy, use-of-force coordinators are also supposed to review operational plans. Mannix reviewed and authorized the operation. We were told that he has a history of “mismanagement” and questionable decision-making.
Our source told us: “The error stemmed from a basic failure: Harriman followed the wrong man and submitted an arrest plan without even including a photo of the suspect. But SAC Tan approved the plan anyway. No one was disciplined. No lessons were learned. Why? Because Harriman is the son of a retired, high-profile CI agent. In this agency, legacy matters more than performance.”
Harriman’s track record didn’t improve. Just out of training, he lost his badge in a public parking lot—a major security lapse that was brushed off with a verbal warning. He was also given a coveted spot on the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), despite lacking the typical experience required for the role. Other agents were told they didn’t qualify. Harriman evidently got in on name alone.
This is what happens when loyalty and favoritism matter more than competence. When leaders use their positions to protect “their people” and retaliate against those who ask questions, it creates an environment where mistakes flourish—and justice suffers.
According to our source, “SAC Tan has used her power to deny training opportunities, block travel essential for investigations, and even manipulate performance reviews to punish those who challenge her. If you’re not in her inner circle, you’re a target. It’s an open secret in the office.”
One of her handpicked assistant special agents in charge, Jack Avery, lasted just four months before announcing his retirement. He did, however, decide to stay longer, having either been asked to remain or decided to postpone his retirement. That speaks volumes. People are getting out—or getting pushed out—as fast as they can. Avery, according to our source, has returned to his prior position as a Supervisory Special Agent.
Our source said he was disappointed in the events that occurred, noting that he became an agent with IRS-CI because he believed in the mission. He believed in the power of good investigations to hold influential people accountable. Unfortunately, that isn’t what he saw in the Houston Office.
Problems still persist even now. Our source told us that in April, approximately 120 special agents nationwide were placed on temporary restricted duty, which led to their duty firearms and vehicles being taken away, due to their background investigations. The current policy within IRS-CI is to hire and issue badges and guns to agents before completing a full background investigation. Our source told us that in his case, he got his badge four months before his background check was completed. Such a practice goes against established practices among law enforcement agencies.
In one case, our source said, one agent was only days from graduation when it was discovered he was a convicted felon still on probation. That led to the review of background checks currently underway.
It is relatively easy to conclude that until the IRS-CI reforms its leadership culture, strengthens oversight, and stops rewarding connections over competence, it will remain broken—and the public will pay the price.
Hopefully, President Trump and DOGE take a long, hard look at IRS-CI. It is ripe for an overhaul.
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2025-05-02T18:33-0400 | Comment by: Philip
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." Thomas Sowell