Former FBI whistleblower pleads guilty to lying about fake bribery scheme involving Bidens

CNN
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A former FBI informant pleaded guilty Monday to lying about fake bribery scheme involvement Joe Biden and his son Hunter, which became central to the impeachment inquiry by congressional Republicans.

Oleksandr Smirnov pleaded guilty to felony charges in connection with the false story, as well as tax evasion charges stemming from a separate indictment accusing him of concealing millions of dollars in income.

A lawyer for 44-year-old Smirnov declined to comment after a hearing in federal court in Los Angeles.

Prosecutors and the defense have agreed to recommend he be sentenced to four to six years in prison when he is sentenced next month.

Smirnov will receive credit for time served since his February arrest on charges that he told his FBI supervisor that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid President Biden and Hunter Biden $5 million each around 2015.

Smirnov was an informer for more than ten years when he made the explosive allegations about the Bidens in June 2020 after “expressing bias” against Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, prosecutors said.

But, according to court documents, starting in 2017, Smirnov had only ordinary business relations with Burisma. The FBI’s office investigated the allegations and recommended that the case be closed in August 2020, according to charging documents.

No evidence has been found that Joe Biden acted corruptly or took bribes as president or in his previous role as vice president.

Although Smirnov’s identity was not publicly known before the indictment, his statements were instrumental in efforts by Republicans in Congress to investigate the president and his family and helped launch the House impeachment inquiry into Biden. Before Smirnov’s arrest, Republicans demanded the FBI release an unredacted form documenting the unverified allegations, though they admitted they could not confirm their veracity. Impeachment Efforts finally exhausted.

During a conversation with investigators in September 2023, Smirnov also claimed that the Russians likely had Hunter Biden’s records because the hotel in the Ukrainian capital where he was staying was “wired” and under their control — information he said was passed on to him four dignitaries. level of Russian officials.

But Hunter Biden never went to Ukraine, according to Smirnov’s indictment.

Smirnov claimed to have had contact with officials connected to Russian intelligence and told authorities after his arrest this year that “officials connected to Russian intelligence were involved in spreading the story” about Hunter Biden.

The case against Smirnov was brought by special counsel David Weiss, who also prosecuted Hunter Biden on gun and tax fraud charges. Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced this month after being convicted in a gun case and pleading guilty to federal charges in a tax case. But he was pardoned this month by his father, who said he believed “crude politics infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”