FBI informant charged with giving false information about Hunter Biden in 2020

 Special Counsel David Weiss has accused an FBI whistleblower of providing false information after he alleged that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were given millions in exchange for help in firing a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings. was paid, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.

Alexander Smirnov, 43, has been charged with making false statements during an FBI interview and creating false and fictitious records.

Prosecutors say Smirnov was arrested at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday after a federal grand jury returned an indictment.

Smirnov appeared in a Las Vegas court later Thursday, where he did not enter a plea, the Associated Press reported. The judge ordered the courtroom cleared after federal public defender Margaret Wightman Lambros requested a closed-door hearing to argue about sealing court documents. He declined to comment on the matter.

According to the indictment, Smirnov gave "false incriminating information" to the FBI despite "repeated warnings that he must provide truthful information and not fabricate evidence."

The indictment states that Smirnov told an FBI agent in March 2017 that he had consulted with Burisma regarding the company potentially acquiring a US company and having an initial public offering (IPO) on a US-based stock exchange. Had a phone call with the owner.

Reporting this conversation to the FBI agent, Smirnov said that Hunter Biden was a board member of Burisma, although this was not publicly known.

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In June 2020, Smirnov is accused for the first time of telling the FBI about two meetings that took place four to five years earlier in which officials associated with Burisma allegedly admitted that they had referred Hunter Biden "through our father "Hired to protect." , from all kinds of problems."

During this meeting, the indictment alleges that Smirnov said the officials paid each of the Bidens $5 million while Joe Biden was still in office. The indictment alleges that Smirnov falsely claimed that the Bidens were paid so that Hunter Biden, with the help of his father, could take care of the criminal investigation being conducted into Burisma by then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General, Viktor Shokin.

The indictment alleges that this information given by Smirnov in June 2020 was fabricated. Prosecutors say Smirnov had contact with Burisma officials in 2017, but when Joe Biden was out of public office and had no ability to influence US policy and the Ukrainian prosecutor general was fired in February 2016 I went.

The indictment alleges that Smirnov changed his "regular and extraordinary" business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later brought bribery charges against Joe Biden after he expressed bias against him and his presidential candidacy. .

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Smirnov is accused of repeating some of his false claims, changing other information and promoting a new false story after claiming to have met with Russian officials during an interview with FBI agents in September 2023.

If convicted, Smirnov faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley were contacted last summer by a whistleblower who alleged that the FBI had a document – an FD-1023 form, dated June 30, 2020 – that clearly Detailed information was provided from. The confidential human source alleged that Biden, while serving as vice president, was involved in a multimillion-dollar scheme with a foreign national in exchange for influence on policy decisions.

The source told Fox News Digital that the confidential human source had been used by the FBI for "at least several years" before the FD-1023 form, and was found by the FBI to be "highly credible."

Placeholder Comer said Thursday that FBI Director Christopher Wray rejected his and Grassley's request to publicly release the form last summer because the bureau "claimed it would jeopardize the security of a confidential human source." which he claimed was invaluable to the FBI."

Comer said the Bureau informed him that the source was "credible and trustworthy, had worked with the FBI for over a decade, and was paid six figures."

Comer said, "The FBI's actions in this case are very concerning. The FBI has had this form for years and it appears they did nothing to verify the disturbing claims contained within the records, until "Congress was not aware of this and did not seek access to them."

Comer said the FBI's FD-1023 form is not being used in an impeachment investigation against the president.

The impeachment investigation, he said, "is based on a voluminous record of evidence, including bank records and witness testimony, which shows that Joe Biden knew about and participated in his family's business dealings."

“Just this week, we had another witness who confirmed that Joe Biden was the brand being sold by Biden around the world. President Biden continues to lie to the American people about this matter and the American people will deny any wrongdoing. "We demand truth and accountability. We will continue to propose legislation to reform federal ethics laws and follow the facts to determine whether articles of impeachment are needed."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Grassley told Fox News Digital that the indictment "reaffirms many of the points made repeatedly by Senator Grassley."

"The informant behind FD-1023 was, in fact, a long-serving, trusted FBI source used by the agency for criminal investigations since the Obama administration. In fact, he was so trusted that the FBI had provided him with authorization 'to engage in illegal activity for investigative purposes,'" the spokesperson said. "But, when presented to the agency with information from such a trusted source, the FBI – as Senator Grassley had exposed – sitting on the document for years, without doing due diligence."

The spokesperson said: "It is clear that the FBI investigated the allegations in the document only after Senator Grassley made FD-1023 public."

Grassley has sought to "ensure that the DOJ and FBI investigate FD-1023."

"Today's indictment makes clear that, without Senator Grassley's oversight and the performance of FD-1023, the agency would have continued to neglect its duties and fail to provide transparency to the American people," the spokesperson said. "Congress should not use the threat of contempt to obtain declassified documents."

Grassley's spokesperson told Fox News Digital that "after hiding information from Congress and the American people under the guise of protecting 'sources and methods,' the Justice Department has now exposed its own source."

"Accordingly, this indictment is not sufficient — the public has a right to see all of the underlying evidence supporting the Biden Justice Department's case," the spokesperson said. “The Biden administration needs to show its work.”