Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant, has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges after admitting to fabricating claims that Joe Biden and his son Hunter had accepted bribes. The false story, which became a central part of a Republican-led impeachment inquiry into President Biden, was presented by Smirnov to the FBI in 2020.
According to court documents, Smirnov falsely reported that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid the Bidens $5 million each between 2015 and 2016. He claimed the executives hired Hunter Biden to “protect us” through his father, who was vice president at the time. However, investigators found that Smirnov's interactions with Burisma executives took place in 2017, after Biden had left office, and that Smirnov's allegations were based on personal bias against Biden, whom he opposed in the 2020 presidential election.
Smirnov was arrested in February and, as part of a plea agreement with Special Counsel David Weiss, will plead guilty to charges of tax evasion and making a false FBI report. Prosecutors are recommending a sentence ranging from two to six years in prison.
The plea follows recent charges against Smirnov for tax evasion and comes amid ongoing legal challenges involving Hunter Biden, who had faced federal charges of gun and tax violations, but was pardoned by his father.
Smirnov's legal team, consisting of attorneys David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, has indicated they will argue for a fair sentence in court, though they declined to comment further at this time.
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