Alexander Smirnov, the former FBI informant charged with lying to officials about the Bidens’ dealings in Ukraine, told prosecutors that Russian intelligence agents were passing him false information kompromat about Hunter Biden.
Special Prosecutor David Weiss charged Smirnov last week with fabricating claims that Joe and Hunter Biden sought $5 million bribes from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma in order to protect the company from investigations into corruption.
Prosecutors now say those claims were motivated by Smirnov’s animosity toward the president, and were widely promoted by Republicans.
Liar on Several Fronts
Smirnov, 43, is an Israeli citizen, and misled prosecutors — led by Trump-appointed Special Prosecutor David Weiss — on several fronts, including his own personal wealth and occupation in security.
Smirnov told investigators he was in contact with “four different Russian officials,” all of whom are “top officials” and two of whom “are the heads of the entities they represent.”
Lies Continuing into 2023
Smirnov told the FBI in September 2023 that Hunter Biden was recorded making phone calls in a Kyiv hotel that is “wired” and “under the control of the Russians.” Federal agents said they knew Smirnov’s story was false because Hunter Biden has “never travelled to Ukraine.”
Smirnov said the Russians would use the hotel to intercept cell phone calls made by “prominent US persons,” prosecutors said, which the Russian government could use as “‘kompromat’ in the 2024 election.
Smirnov Cozies Up to Comrades
Smirnov claims to have met with Russian intelligence officials as recently as November and December 2023.
Smirnov says he was involved in meetings to help resolve the war in Ukraine, and that he had knowledge of assassination squads operating in “a third-party country.”
Hunter Biden’s legal team files motions that claim the president’s son’s case is tainted and he cannot receive a fair trial.
“It now seems clear that the Smirnov allegations infected this case,” said Abbe Lowell, Mr. Biden’s lawyer, who accused Mr. Weiss of following “Mr. Smirnov down his rabbit hole of lies.”