By Steve Neavling
A former FBI informant pleaded guilty Monday to providing false information to federal authorities about Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in the months leading up to the 2020 presidential election.
Alexander Smirnov, who was indicted earlier this year, admitted to feeding false claims to his FBI handler in June 2020. Smirnov falsely alleged that Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company where Hunter Biden was employed, had paid $5 million each to Joe and Hunter Biden during the Obama administration, when Joe Biden was vice president.
The allegations, which Biden has repeatedly denied, were touted by many House Republicans as a key component of their impeachment inquiry into the president.
Smirnov entered his guilty plea in a California federal court as part of an agreement filed last week, NBC News reports. Under the deal, he pleaded guilty to causing the creation of a false and fictitious record in a federal investigation. Smirnov also pleaded guilty to tax evasion in connection with a separate indictment unsealed last month, admitting to receiving over $2 million in unreported income for the tax years 2020 through 2022.
Prosecutors and Smirnov’s attorneys agreed to recommend a prison sentence of four to six years, followed by one year of supervised release. The plea agreement also includes approximately $675,000 in restitution. Smirnov will receive credit for time served during his pretrial detention following his February arrest.
According to the indictment, Smirnov had expressed a clear bias against Joe Biden in messages to his FBI handler in May 2020. He made the bribery allegations just one month later.
In their arguments for pretrial detention, prosecutors claimed Smirnov was “actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November.”
Smirnov, who began working as a confidential human source for the FBI in 2010, has not publicly commented on the case. An attorney for Smirnov did not respond to a request for comment Monday evening.
The case against Smirnov was brought by special counsel David Weiss, who previously led the investigation into Hunter Biden on gun and tax-related charges.
Hunter Biden was convicted of federal gun charges in June and pleaded guilty to tax charges in September. Earlier this month, President Biden pardoned his son ahead of sentencing, which is scheduled for Dec. 12 in the gun case and Dec. 16 for the tax case.
