While many still believe the Biden family profited significantly from various overseas business dealings, including alleged bribes, an FBI informant who claimed Bidens took millions from a Ukrainian oligarch has definitely changed his story.
According to the Washington Examiner, former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov agreed this week to plead guilty to lying to federal informants regarding his claim that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden received the lucrative bribes.
Smirnov's original testimony was what jumpstarted an investigation into the Bidens regarding the matter.
He admitted to evading millions in unreported income and to lying to federal agents about the Biden situation.
Smirnov has agreed to plead guilty as part of a plea struck with special counsel David Weiss.
The Examiner noted:
Weiss brought the indictment against Smirnov in February while the special counsel was also leading two prosecutions against Hunter Biden. Smirnov’s indictment, at the time, served as a massive blow to House Republicans, who used Smirnov’s claims about the Bidens to help justify their impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.
Smirnov's original claim centered around a story he told regarding the Bidens receiving $5 million each in bribes from Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
The payments, according to his original claims, "were made in exchange for Joe Biden to use his political power to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma."
Ex-FBI informant Alexander Smirnov pleads guilty to lying about Joe Biden and Hunter bribes https://t.co/h5PnWCPR3y pic.twitter.com/TCzi6AjEy8
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) December 12, 2024
The story he told made perfect sense, given that Hunter Biden was a board member for Burisma and his father's influence could have deterred investigations into the company at the time.
The Examiner noted:
Smirnov admitted lying about the claims, which he made on an FBI form known as an FD-1023 in 2020 while Joe Biden was running for president. In his plea agreement, Smirnov also admitted that he had been in contact with Russian intelligence officials.
Smirnov has been in jail in California since he was charged with making the false statements.
As part of the plea deal, Special Counsel Weiss "asked the court to sentence him to up to six years in prison and force him to pay up to $675,502 in restitution."
His sentencing is set for January.
