Ex-FBI informant charged in federal court with lying about Bidens’ role in Ukrainian business

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Alexander Smirnov, a longtime FBI informant, was charged with fabricating claims that President Biden and his son Hunter each sought $5 million bribes from energy company Burisma, allegations that have been central to the Republican impeachment inquiry against President Biden. 

Key Players

Alexander Smirnov is an Israeli American international businessman who speaks Russian, English, Hebrew, and Arabic. He started working as an FBI informant in 2010 and was considered a valuable asset because of his relationships with corrupt foreign business and government officials, as well as his ties to Israeli and other foreign intelligence services. Smirnov grew up in Ukraine and lived in Israel between 1992 and 2006. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicates he served as president of a “private mineral and logistic operation, with assets in Russia” from 2000 to 2006. Smirnov has been accused in multiple lawsuits of fraud, breach of contract, and bilking his creditors

Hunter Biden is President Joe Biden’s only surviving son. A lawyer and founder of the investment and advisory firm Rosemont Seneca Partners, Hunter served on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings from 2014 to 2019. David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for Delaware who was nominated by Trump and kept on by Biden, began investigating Hunter Biden in 2018, first over “tax affairs” and later for lying about drug use on a gun application form. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Weiss special counsel for the Hunter Biden investigation in 2023.

Scott Brady was the Trump-nominated U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 2017 to 2021. In June 2020 he helped Department of Justice (DOJ) officials review information received from the public “that may be relevant to matters relating to Ukraine.” 

Further Details

During Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, Smirnov allegedly sent his FBI handler multiple messages expressing his dislike of Joe Biden and boasting that he had information that would put him in jail. In the same period, Smirnov allegedly submitted reports to the FBI about meetings with Burisma executives in 2015 and 2016, during which, he said, they admitted to hiring Hunter Biden in order “to protect [them], through his dad, from all kinds of problems.” However, Smirnov first reported contacts with Burisma executives in March 2017, after the Obama-Biden administration had ended. Furthermore, Smirnov’s initial report merely stated that there was a “brief, non-relevant” mention of Hunter Biden during a conversation with the owner of Burisma. This information was filed in a 1023 form, which is used to record unverified reporting from informants. 

These findings were examined in June 2020 when Brady was asked by Justice Department officials to help review information from the public that was “relevant to matters relating to Ukraine.” As part of this examination, the Pittsburgh office of the FBI analyzed Smirnov’s 2017 1023 form regarding his discussions with Burisma executives. During this investigation, Smirnov also allegedly claimed that executives paid $5 million to both Joe and Hunter Biden while Joe Biden was vice president. The stated goal of the purported bribe was to ensure Hunter “[took] care of all those issues through his dad,” a reference to a criminal investigation conducted by the then-Ukrainian prosecutor general into Burisma. These claims were repeated at the time by top Trump allies and Russian intelligence officials. 

The FBI told Smirnov to provide evidence to corroborate his bribery claims. After two months, prosecutors said the FBI and DOJ leadership concluded that Smirnov’s allegations did not merit further investigation.  

However, in private testimony given to the House Judiciary Committee in 2023, Brady claimed he could corroborate some of Smirnov’s claims using travel records — information prosecutors said would actually be used against Smirnov. Brady briefed special counsel Weiss on the document and asked the FBI to send it to Weiss’ office.   

Weiss continued the investigation through July 2023, when the FBI approached his team over “allegations related to” Smirnov’s claims. This occurred as congressional Republicans worked to make Smirnov’s allegations publicly known after learning of them. That May, Rep. James R. Comer (R-Ky.), chair of the House Oversight Committee, threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher A. Wray in contempt if he failed to disclose certain details. Wray complied in July, and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) publicly released a copy of an FBI record that included Smirnov’s claims, without naming him or questioning the record’s truthfulness. 

In September 2023, Smirnov was interviewed by the FBI about his claims regarding the Biden family. Prosecutors said that he “repeated some false claims, changed his story as to other of his claims, and promoted a new false narrative after he said he met with Russian officials.”

Outcome 

Smirnov indicted

In an indictment returned by a federal grand jury and unsealed Feb. 15, 2024, in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Smirnov was charged with making false statements and obstructing Weiss’ investigation. Prosecutors attributed his alleged conduct to political intent.

Smirnov has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

Judge orders Smirnov to remain jailed while awaiting trial 

After being arrested on Feb. 15, Smirnov was released by order of a magistrate judge in Las Vegas on the condition that he agree to GPS monitoring, remain in Nevada, and give up his two passports to authorities. On Feb. 21, prosecutors asked a federal judge in California to overturn that ruling, citing Smirnov’s connections to foreign intelligence officials and his large amounts of cash as evidence he might attempt to flee the country. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II, nominated by former President George W. Bush, ordered Smirnov’s detention on Feb. 26. Smirnov’s lawyers filed an emergency petition with the 9th U.S. Circuit  Court of Appeals to overturn Wright’s decision, but it was denied. Smirnov was also re-arrested for illegal firearms possession after his initial release. 

Comer blames FBI for misleading committee

In a statement published after the charges against Smirnov became public, Comer, who previously described them as “very significant allegations from a trusted FBI informant implicating then-Vice President Biden in a criminal bribery scheme,” blamed FBI officials for telling his committee their “source was credible and trusted, had worked with the F.B.I for over a decade and had been paid six figures.”  

Comer also emphasized that while Republicans have heavily referenced Smirnov’s claims in their impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden, it “is not reliant on [Smirnov’s] 1023. It is based on a large record of evidence, including bank records and witness testimony, revealing that Joe Biden knew of and participated in his family’s business dealings.” 

Hunter Biden’s lawyers say indictment is proof of smear campaign 

While the younger Biden still faces charges on gun and tax charges, his lawyers say that Republicans’  acceptance and promulgation of Smirnov’s falsehoods prove Biden was the target of a “mendacious and politically motivated smear campaign.” “For months, we have warned that Republicans have built their conspiracies about Hunter and his family on lies told by people with political agendas, not facts,” Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. “We were right, and the air is out of their balloon.”