During Wednesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, Whistleblower X was identified as Joseph Ziegler.

In his opening statement, Ziegler hit back at assertions by an elected official that he was somehow more credible than fellow whistleblower (and his supervisor) Gary Shapley. As Susie Moore reported:

I had recently heard an elected official say that I must be more credible, because I am a gay democrat married to a man. I’m no more credible than this man sitting next to me due to my sexual orientation or my political beliefs. I was raised, and have always strived to do what is right. I have heard from some, that I am a traitor to the democratic party, and that I am causing more division in our society. I implore you, that if you were put in my position with the facts as I have stated them, that you would be doing the exact same thing – regardless of your political party affiliation. I hope that I am an example to other LGBTQ people out there, who are questioning doing the right thing at a potential cost to themselves and others. We should ALWAYS do the right thing, no matter how painful the process might be. I kind of equate this to coming out, it was honestly one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I contemplated scenarios that would have been highly regrettable. But I did what was right and I am sitting in front of you here today.

🚨 BREAKING: IRS Whistleblower Joseph Ziegler comes forward to speak out against the the handling of the Hunter Biden investigation pic.twitter.com/vnBth51HTJ

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 19, 2023

Ziegler testified that prior to coming to the IRS in 2010 he worked with Ernst & Young as an external auditor, which gives him extremely relevant experience related to the Hunter Biden investigation.

As soon as Ziegler testified, CBS News’ Catherine Herridge published clips of an exclusive interview she had already filmed with him.

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler tells @CBS_Herridge that he wanted to interview Hunter Biden's adult children, but was told by an Assistant U.S. Attorney that doing so would "get us into hot water." https://t.co/4ABWt5XKbT pic.twitter.com/HTeumtws0y

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 19, 2023