On Monday, a former FBI informant pleaded guilty to four federal charges linked to falsifying statements that partially fueled a GOP congressional inquiry into the Biden family. Alexander Smirnov entered his guilty plea regarding these charges as well as unrelated tax evasion charges, admitting to concealing millions in income.
He had informed the FBI that the head of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, claimed to have paid both President Biden and his son Hunter Biden $5 million. These assertions were proven false but became pivotal to a House GOP investigation into the Bidens.
Ex-FBI informant admits to fabricating claims about the Biden family
In court filings, Smirnov acknowledged providing “false derogatory information” concerning the president and his son. Prosecutors and Smirnov reached an agreement for a sentence ranging from 48 to 72 months in prison, with sentencing scheduled for next month.
He will receive credit for the time he has spent in custody since his arrest in February. The initial indictment against Smirnov alleged that he had “transformed his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma in 2017” into the foundation for the bribery claims. Special counsel David Weiss, who also prosecuted Hunter Biden on gun and tax charges, brought the case against Smirnov.
Hunter Biden was anticipated to be sentenced this month following his conviction in the gun case and guilty plea to federal tax charges. However, he was pardoned this month by his father, who stated that he believed “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
