FBI Informant Charged with Fabricating Bribery Scheme Involving President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden
In a shocking turn of events, an FBI informant has been charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and a Ukrainian energy company. This claim has played a central role in the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress and has sparked a heated debate among lawmakers.
The informant, Alexander Smirnov, allegedly falsely reported to the FBI in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016. According to court documents, Smirnov claimed that an executive had hired Hunter Biden to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems.” However, prosecutors have now revealed that Smirnov had only routine business dealings with the company in 2017 and made the bribery allegations out of bias against Joe Biden while he was a presidential candidate.
Smirnov, 43, appeared in court in Las Vegas briefly on Thursday after being charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record. The judge ordered the courtroom cleared after his defense attorney requested a closed hearing for arguments about sealing court documents.
These allegations from the informant have been at the heart of the Republican effort in Congress to investigate President Biden and his family. They have also played a significant role in sparking a House impeachment inquiry into Biden. However, an attorney for Hunter Biden has vehemently denied these charges and stated that they are “based on dishonest, uncredible allegations and witnesses.”
The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, has called for an end to the Biden impeachment inquiry. Raskin has labeled the allegations against Biden as “a tissue of lies built on conspiracy theories.” He has urged House Republicans to “stop promoting this nonsense and end their doomed impeachment inquiry.”
In response to Raskin’s comments, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer downplayed the importance of the informant and stated that the impeachment inquiry is not reliant on the FBI’s FD-1023, the form documenting Smirnov’s allegations. Comer emphasized that the inquiry is based on a large record of evidence, including bank records and witness testimony. He also mentioned that the committee will continue to “follow the facts” and determine whether to proceed with articles of impeachment against Biden.
It is worth noting that Smirnov had contact with Burisma executives, but it was routine and took place in 2017, after President Barack Obama and Biden had left office. Therefore, Biden would have had no ability to influence U.S. policy at that time. Prosecutors have accused Smirnov of transforming his routine business contacts with Burisma into bribery allegations against Joe Biden after expressing bias against him and his candidacy.
If convicted, Smirnov could face a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. The charges against him were filed by Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who has separately charged Hunter Biden with firearm and tax violations. The allegations involving Burisma have become a flashpoint in Congress as Republicans continue to pursue investigations into President Biden and his family.
Last year, Comer subpoenaed the FBI for the FD-1023 document, which Republicans believed was crucial to their investigation of Biden and his son Hunter. However, they acknowledged that they couldn’t confirm the truthfulness of the allegations. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa also released an unclassified document that Republicans claimed was significant in their investigation of Hunter Biden. However, the White House stated that the claims in the document had been “debunked for years.”
Despite these developments, the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden over his son’s business dealings continues. Hunter Biden is expected to appear before the committee later this month, and his attorney, Abbe Lowell, remains confident that the probe is based on “lies told by people with political agendas, not facts.”
A judge has set a detention hearing for Smirnov on February 20. He was arrested at the Las Vegas airport after arriving in the U.S. from overseas. The case continues to unfold, and it remains to be seen how these charges will impact the ongoing investigations and the political landscape.
