An ex-FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, has been charged with making false statements about an alleged bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Smirnov is accused of lying about the Bidens accepting payments from Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. The Justice Department stated that Smirnov gave false statements to the FBI due to his dislike for President Biden. Republicans had previously relied on Smirnov’s claims to support their bid to impeach Mr. Biden. Hunter Biden is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee later this month to address the allegations. Smirnov was arrested in Las Vegas and charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record.
Special Counsel David Weiss, who has overseen the investigation of Hunter Biden, released a 37-page indictment document accusing Smirnov of providing “false derogatory information” to the FBI about the president and his son. These false allegations were made after Joe Biden had become the Democratic presidential candidate and after Smirnov had expressed bias against the former vice-president.
Congressional Republicans had utilized Smirnov’s allegations in their impeachment inquiry into President Biden. However, senior congressional Republicans acknowledged that the allegations were unverified and that there was no evidence of Joe Biden receiving any payments from Ukraine.
Smirnov had initially claimed that Burisma officials hired Hunter Biden as a board member in order to gain influence over the US government through his father. However, prosecutors revealed that Smirnov had only spoken to Burisma officials after Joe Biden was no longer vice-president and after the Ukrainian Prosecutor General had already been fired. The indictment further stated that Smirnov transformed his routine business contact with Burisma into bribery allegations against Joe Biden after expressing bias against the president.
During subsequent questioning by the FBI, Smirnov allegedly changed elements of his story and made new allegations after claiming to have met with Russian officials. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
