Former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, accused of providing false testimony and fabricating records about bribery of the US President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, has entered into a plea agreement.
This is reported by CNN, citing a statement from a court in California.
Aleksander Smirnov is set to plead guilty to four counts, including tax evasion and obstruction of justice by making false statements to the FBI, a California court said Thursday. In other words, Smirnov is admitting that his allegations that officials at Ukrainian energy company Burisma illegally paid $5 million in bribes to Joe Biden, when he was vice president, and to his son Hunter, who was on the company’s board, are false.
This is likely to be the end of the investigation, writes CNN. The prosecutor and the defendant are asking the judge to sentence Smirnov to four to six years in prison.
What preceded
Alexander Smirnov, during the 2020 Hunter Biden investigation, claimed that Burisma management hired Biden’s son to defend them in 2015 and 2016. Smirnov’s testimony formed the basis of a Republican-led congressional investigation into President Biden and his family, and also triggered a House impeachment inquiry into Biden. This topic was actively used by former President Donald Trump, who claimed that Biden illegally helped his son with his Ukrainian business.
On February 16, 2024, the US Attorneyʼs Office charged FBI informant Alexander Smirnov with providing false testimony and fabricating records.
According to the prosecutor, Smirnov had a political motivation to lie because he "didnʼt like" Biden as a politician, and Republicans pressured the FBI to release internal reports containing Smirnovʼs statements.
In December 2023, the US House of Representatives voted to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
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