The former FBI informant charged with lying to the bureau about the Bidens Ukraine ties told investigators that Russian intelligence officials were involved in passing information to him about Hunter Biden, according to CNN.
Alexander Smirnov was arrested last week and charged with lying to the FBI after he falsely told the bureau in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016.
Smirnov claimed the money was paid by Burisma to Biden, while he was serving as vice-president, to get Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who was investigating the company for corruption.
But the international community was calling for the prosecutor’s firing for not investigating corruption and he had no active investigation into Burisma at the time of his ouster.
Smirnov was arrested last week and charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record.
Prosecutors with special counsel David Weiss’ team revealed Tuesday that in an interview last week after his arrest “Smirnov admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story” to him about Hunter Biden.
The explosive revelation was made in court documents urging a judge to keep Smirnov behind bars while he awaits trial.
Smirnov’s claim has been central to the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress.
“He is actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November,” prosecutors say. “In light of that fact there is a serious risk he will flee in order to avoid accountability for his actions.”
