BREAKING: IRS Commissioner Gary Shapley fired after 3 days and Elon Musk's DOGE Blocked From Agency

The sudden moves come 24-hours after Narativ's exclusive reports on several Russian-linked personnel on the DOGE payroll attempting to access taxpayer data

President Trump has replaced acting IRS Commissioner Gary Shapley after just three days in the role, while simultaneously revoking DOGE official Gavin Kliger's access to IRS systems – dual actions that followed just hours after our reporting about Russian connected personnel at Elon Musk's data collection operation.

Musk and Trump in Crisis Control Mode After Commissioner Fired After Three Days

Shapley, who gained conservative prominence as a whistleblower pushing Russian narratives about the Hunter Biden tax investigation, will be replaced by Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Friday.

According to The New York Times, Trump made the change after Bessent complained to the president about being ”blindsided” when Musk secured the position for Shapley without consulting the Treasury Secretary.

This narrative appears to be a smokescreen because had the Times done the research, they would know Bessent offered a full-throated support of Shapley nomination. Later today, Musk joined in on the Kabuki Theater by posting alleged Trump mistress Laura Loomer’s publicly circulated criticisms of Bessent.

The Commissioner's firing and counter-narrative efforts come just 24-hours after Narativ published an expose of DOGE ties to Russia called Red Flags.

What We Reported

• "Red Flags" detailed how several Russian nationals— some with ties to Putin and the KGB— were on the DOGE payroll.

• This follows reporting about efforts within DOGE to build a Mega-API for all IRS systems utilizing Palantir, originally reported by Wired,

• We tied DOGE’s Mega-API efforts to DOGE manager Sam Corcos who is connected to a sanctioned Russian olig arch with close ties to Vladimir Putin.

• We developed a list of other DOGE personnel who were tied to Russia.

• We reported about National Labor Relations Board whistleblower David Berulis which originated on NPR

• Berulis provided NPR forensic evidence showing that within minutes after DOGE engineers gained access to sensitive labor systems, someone operating from Russia attempted to log in using newly created DOGE credentials which we reported here.

• We surfaced a quote from Berulis lawyer who told Rachel Maddow that DOGE's systems "were also connected to Starlink," which he described as a "direct pipeline to Russia."

The Kremlin's Web of Influence

We had already begun investigating Justin Kliger when we heard that his access to to the IRS systems had been cut off.

Kliger had demanded unprecedented access to sensitive taxpayer information under the guise of eliminating "waste, fraud, and abuse." According to sources familiar with the situation, early Friday morning the IRS rescinded not only Kliger's system access but also his physical building access. Kliger was directly managing the massive layoffs that would cut the tax agency's headcount by 25 percent, with more layoff notices planned for Friday afternoon that have now been paused.

IRS attorneys had already cautioned that many of the administration's changes at the agency violated privacy and tax laws. Particularly concerning was the Treasury Department's agreement to share confidential taxpayer data with the Department of Homeland Security to aid the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, and DOGE's efforts to build a unified data-sharing platform across federal agencies – both of which agency officials warned violated strict confidentiality laws around distributing tax information.

Trump Targets Harvard Tax Exempt Status

During Shapley's brief three-day tenure, Trump sought to use the IRS to punish specific targets. The administration on Wednesday asked the tax agency's top lawyer to revoke Harvard University's tax-exempt status over its handling of campus antisemitism. Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said his administration was considering similar revocations for other nonprofits, including civil society and environmental groups that oppose his policies. This weaponization of the IRS against opponents reveals the true agenda behind DOGE's data access demands.

Demanded Taxpayer Info

The IRS lockout is particularly significant because Kliger had worked alongside Sam Corcos at DOGE on a project to unify the disparate IRS databases under one artificial intelligence-driven platform designed to surface new information by analyzing the connections in previously siloed data bases.

Corcos’ wife worked for GVA Capital a venture firm that serves as a front for the US business deals of a sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov - and a close friend of Vladimir Putin.

Kerimov—a Russian senator—who has been sanctioned by the Treasury Department held a 1% stake in Musk's SpaceX through the Delaware-based Heritage Trust. At today's valuations, that stake would be worth approximately $3.5 billion. It’s unclear if the Trust or Citigroup still holds the stake.

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