(AFP) – A former FBI informant on Monday admitted to making up a story about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter taking $5 million in bribes from a Ukrainian energy firm. Alexander Smirnov, 44, pleaded guilty to creating a false record in a federal investigation, as well as three counts of tax evasion for failing to pay taxes and penalties on $2.1 million in income for 2020 through 2022.
The Russian-born Smirnov, a dual US-Israeli citizen, faces up to six years in prison under the terms of a plea agreement he struck with prosecutors. US District Judge Otis Wright, sitting in Los Angeles, set sentencing for January 8. Smirnov was indicted for fabricating claims that Ukrainian energy firm Burisma had paid millions of dollars in bribes to Hunter Biden, who was on the Burisma board, and his father, who was the vice president to Barack Obama at the time, to protect it from a criminal investigation.
“The events Defendant first reported to the (FBI) Handler in June 2020 were fabrications,” according to the plea deal filing. “When he was interviewed by FBI agents in September 2023, Defendant repeated some of his false claims, changed his story as to other of his claims, and promoted a new false narrative,” it said.
Congressional Republicans seeking to impeach Joe Biden had touted Smirnov’s statements as evidence that the Biden family was collectively involved in a criminal enterprise. The impeachment effort in the House of Representatives turned up nothing to substantiate the allegations, however, and ground to a halt. Hunter Biden was convicted of gun and tax charges earlier this year and pardoned by his father.
© 2024 AFP
