Former FBI informant charged with lying about Biden’s business

The descriptions of the two people match those of Joe Biden and his son Hunter, and people familiar with the matter said those are the two people Mr. Smirnov lied about. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident.

The indictment returned by a Los Angeles grand jury charges Smirnov with making false statements and creating false and fictitious records.

For months, Congressional Republicans have been trying to use the claims of some FBI informants to make their case for Hunter Biden, and for President Biden. involved in corrupt transactions, and the FBI did not pursue those allegations.

The same prosecutors who are now seeking to convict Hunter Biden on gun and tax crimes have also indicted someone who allegedly made false allegations of corruption against the Biden family.

Thursday’s indictment implicitly alleges that some of the most sensational charges Republicans sought to pursue against President Biden and his son were based on lies.

According to the indictment, Smirnov “changed his routine and non-routine business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later expressed bias against Civil Servant 1, then became a member of one of the president’s two major political parties. This has led to allegations of bribery against a public servant who is considered to be a candidate,” and his candidacy. ”

Authorities allege that Smirnov repeatedly expressed his distaste for Joe Biden in conversations with FBI agents, at one point texting the agent that Biden was “going to jail.” There is.

In 2017, Smirnov allegedly told FBI agents that during a phone call with the owner of the Ukrainian company Burisma, the topic came up that “the son of Civil Servant 1 is a member of Burisma’s board of directors.” This was public information. time.

In the 2020 indictment, Mr. Smirnov brought new allegations to the office. They included that Burisma executives were aware of conversations in 2015 or 2016 in which Burisma executives said they had hired the son “to protect us from all kinds of problems through his father.”

Mr. Smirnov’s claims that he was aware of these conversations are false, the indictment states.

When investigators questioned Smirnov again in 2023, he claimed to have met with Russian officials, then repeated previous false claims and changed other parts of his story, U.S. authorities said. It is said that he suggested a new falsehood.

Mr. Smirnov was arrested Wednesday at the Las Vegas airport as he entered the United States from abroad, the Justice Department said.

This is a developing story. Will be updated.