An FBI informant has been accused and charged of lying to agents regarding connections between Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and a Ukrainian energy company.
According to prosecutors, Alexander Smirnov falsely informed FBI agents in June 2020 that Burisma executives paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016.
Smirnov informed the FBI that Hunter Biden had allegedly been hired by a Burisma executive to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems. “
Last summer, as Republicans pursued their investigations into Biden and his family, they pushed the FBI to release the unredacted form documenting the allegations, which became a hot topic in Congress. At the time, they acknowledged that the allegations veracity was a matter of debate.
Although Smirnov allegedly had interactions with Burisma executives near the end of the Obama administration, according to the prosecution, this actually happened after Biden and Obama had both left office and were no longer able to sway U.S. policy.
In September 2023, during an FBI agent interview, he made false claims, changing his account of others, and “promoted a new false narrative after claiming to have met with Russian officials, “according to prosecutors.
Smirnov, 43, was charged with fabricating a record and making false statements. He was detained on Wednesday after arriving from abroad and was scheduled to appear in court for the first time in Las Vegas, according to prosecutors.
He could receive a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if found guilty.
Special counsel for the Justice Department, David Wiess, who has separately accused Hunter Biden of tax and firearm violations, filed the charges.
