An FBI informant was charged Thursday with making up a bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden at the heart of the Republicans’ impeachment efforts.
Alexander Smirnov in 2020 falsely reported to the FBI that executives at the Ukrainian energy firm Bursima paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016 in order to “protect” them from “all kinds of problems,” according to The Associated Press.
Prosecutors say Smirnov only had routine business dealings with the company in 2017 and made the allegation after he “expressed bias” against then-candidate Joe Biden. He was charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record.
Smirnov’s claims have been central to the House GOP impeachment inquiry into Biden. An attorney for Hunter Biden, who is expected to be deposed by the House this month, told the AP the indictment shows the GOP investigation is “based on dishonest, uncredible allegations and witnesses.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, called on Republicans to “end their doomed impeachment inquiry,” arguing it has “always been a tissue of lies built on conspiracy theories.”
“When did James Comer know this was false and how long did he conceal that from the American people?” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., questioned on CNN.
CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams said the indictment “eviscerates” the GOP’s impeachment effort.
“Any evidence linking current President Biden to wrongdoing was pretty thin to begin with. But if people had it and could come forward with it and substantiate it, by all means, bring it. That’s how law enforcement works,” he said.
“Now, I’m genuinely curious sort of as a citizen, as much as a former Hill staffer and prosecutor, what the folks on the Hill do with it now, because literally your star witness – his testimony has been completely discredited by law enforcement,” he added.
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