WASHINGTON – A former FBI informant has been indicted by a Justice Department special counsel for allegedly lying about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden's overseas dealings, in a major setback in House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into the president.
Alexander Smirnov, 43, was charged with two counts of making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record of information he provided to the FBI.
Smirnov, who the indictment says has been an FBI informant since 2010, was arrested Wednesday at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas after a federal grand jury in the Central District of California returned the indictment.
The charges were brought by special counsel David Weiss, who previously brought tax and gun-related charges against Hunter Biden. House Republicans cited Mr. Smirnov's story about Hunter Biden's business dealings in the president's impeachment inquiry.
Smirnov is accused of falsely claiming to the FBI that executives at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma admitted to hiring Hunter Biden in 2015 and 2016 “to protect us through his father from all kinds of problems.” has been accused of. member.
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Smirnov made this statement to investigators in June 2020, when Joe Biden was a presidential candidate.
Prosecutors said Smirnov also said Burisma executives paid Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter $5 million each so Hunter could “address all these issues through his father.” He is said to have lied about doing so.
Smirnov's remarks were in reference to a criminal investigation into Burisma by then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. But in reality, Weiss said, Smirnov's first contact with executives occurred in 2017, at the end of the Obama-Biden administration, and after Shokin had already been fired in February 2016.
The 37-page indictment states that “in other words,” Smirnov's involvement with Burisma was because then-Vice President Joe Biden “no longer has the ability to influence U.S. policy and the attorney general is no longer in office.” “It was a time when I wasn't there.''
Prosecutors said Smirnov “transformed routine and unusual business contacts with Burisma into bribery charges against Mr. Biden.” Weiss accused Smirnov of being motivated by political bias, pointing to text messages in which he bragged about having information that could put Biden in jail.
Mr. Smirnov repeated the same false claims to FBI agents in September 2023, changed his story on other claims, and then released a “new false story after saying he met with Russian officials.” He has been accused of promoting it.
The charges against Smirnov could hurt House Republicans' impeachment efforts over baseless claims that Joe Biden accepted bribes through his son's work in Ukraine in exchange for steering U.S. policy.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who has been leading the investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings, said the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden is based on information other than the information provided by Smirnov. It downplayed the charges against Mr. Smirnov, arguing that it relied on evidence from F.B.I.
“This is based on a large body of evidence, including bank records and witness testimony, that shows Joe Biden knew about and participated in his family's business transactions,” Comer said.
But Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member on the oversight committee, called on Republicans to end the “doomed impeachment inquiry” following the accusations against Smirnov.
“Special Counsel David Weiss, appointed by former President Donald Trump, demonstrated in a detailed indictment how key evidence at the center of the House Republican impeachment inquiry is based on lies.” he said.
Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abby Rowell, said Smirnov's indictment was “just another example” of House Republicans “spreading lies based on disingenuous and unreliable allegations and testimony.”
“We have been warning for months that Republicans are building a conspiracy about Hunter and his family based not on facts but on lies told by politically motivated people,” Lowell said. “We made the right decision. The air is coming out of their balloon.”
