LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A former informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been arrested in Las Vegas.
On Wednesday, 43-year-old Alexander Smirnov was taken into custody after flying in to Harry Reid International Airport from overseas.
He's accused of lying to the FBI about President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, after Joe Biden became a presidential candidate.
According to an indictment, which was released on Wednesday, the FBI identified Smirnov as a confidential human source.
The indictment alleges that in March 2017, Smirnov told an FBI agent that he had a phone call with the owner of Ukrainian industrial conglomerate Burisma Holdings concerning the company's interest in acquiring a U.S. company and making an initial public offering on a U.S.-based stock exchange. He also identified Hunter as a member of Burisma's board, which was widely known.
MORE: Read the full indictment against Alexander Smirnov
In June 2020, the indictment alleges Smirnov reported he had two meetings in 2015 and/or 2016. FBI agents claim Smirnov falsely claimed that during these meetings, executives associated with Burisma told him they had hired Hunter to "protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems." He also said executives paid $5 million each to Hunter and Joe Biden while the senior Biden was serving as vice president so that Hunter "will take care of all those issues through his dad."
In the new indictment, the Department of Justice's Special Counsel David C. Weiss alleges Smirnov only contacted the Burisma executives in 2017 after the end of Biden's term as vice president and after the Ukrainian prosecutor general had already been fired.
"The indictment alleges that the defendant transformed his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations against Biden after expressing bias against Biden and his presidential candidacy," Weiss' office said in a statement.
This summer, Republicans were asking the FBI to release the unredacted form documenting the allegations. However, at the time, they acknowledged it was unclear if the allegations were true. On several occasions, Republicans used these claims to try to move forward with an impeachment inquiry against Biden.
"Even a trusted FBI informant has alleged a bribe to the Biden family," former Rep. Kevin McCarthy said when he announced an inquiry in September.
"We also found a Form 1023, an FBI form, alleging Joe Biden took a bribe. What we learned from this is the FBI never investigated this allegation. No one ever investigated it," Rep. James Comer claimed during a GOP briefing in September.
The FBI and House Democrats have both emphasized that information in an FD-1023 is unverified, raw intelligence.
The indictment also states during his time as an informant for the FBI, Smirnov was "authorized to engage in illegal activity for investigative purposes", although it doesn't elaborate on activity Smirnov may have engaged in. However, it states Smirnov was told by his handler that he could not participate in an act that led to obstruction of justice and he signed a form five times between 2014 and 2020 indicating he understood those directions.
Attorneys for Hunter Biden issued the following statement following the indictment's release.
"For months, we have warned that Republicans have built their conspiracies about Hunter and his family on lies told by people with political agendas, not facts. We were right and the air is out of their balloon. This is just another instance of Chairmen Comer and Jordan peddling falsehoods based on dishonest, uncredible allegations and witnesses."
Smirnov made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Thursday.
A judge ordered that Smirnov would be detained pending a detention hearing, which is scheduled for federal court in Las Vegas on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
He is facing charges including making false statements and creating a false and fictitious record for statements he made to the FBI. If convicted, he's facing up to 25 years in prison.
