A federal grand jury has indicted a former FBI informant on allegations of "false statements" and "obstruction crimes" related to accusations against President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden and their supposed corruption ties to Ukrainian conglomerate Burisma Holdings.

What You Need To Know

  • A federal grand jury has indicted a former FBI informant on allegations that he made false accusations of corrupt ties between President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden to a Ukrainian conglomerate

  • Alexander Smirnov allegedly told his FBI handler false, derogatory information about the Bidens in 2020, after Joe Biden became a candidate for the presidency

  • According to the indictment, Smirnov alleged he met with Burisma officials while Biden was vice president, and was told of bribes paid to "protect [them]... from all sorts of problems"

  • But investigators found that timelines didn't add up, and that Smirnov's story changed after his meetings with Russian officials

According to the indictment, Alexander Smirnov, 43, a confidential source to the FBI since at least 2010, told his FBI handler false, derogatory information about the Bidens in 2020. Neither President Biden nor Hunter Biden are referred to by name within the indictment, though their identities are covered by only the thinnest of veils. The indictment states that Smirnov only made his comments after "Public Official 1," the father to "Businessperson 1," "became a candidate for President of the United States of America."

Smirnov allegedly first referenced the connection between Hunter Biden and Burisma in 2017, when he when he noted that the Ukrainian company was considering entering a U.S.-based stock exchange, and that Hunter Biden sat on the company’s board.

Three years later, Smirnov reported having meetings with Burisma officials dating back to 2015 or 2016, in which he claimed the officials said they "hired [Hunter Biden] to 'protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems,'" — related to a criminal investigation conducted by the then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General into the company — and that $5 million each was paid to the Bidens while Joe Biden still held the office of Vice President.

Investigators determined that story to be fabricated, finding that Smirnov hadn’t met with Burisma officials until spring 2017 at earliest — after Joe Biden left office — and detailing "an amalgam of otherwise unremarkable business meetings and contacts… for the purpose of pitching Burisma on [Smirnov’s] services and products, not for discussing bribes to [Biden] when he was in office."

Investigators also allege that Smirnov in 2023 repeated some of his false claims, changed his story about others, "promoted a new false narrative after meeting with Russian officials," and suggested that Russia was seeking to have Ukraine influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election with "tapes" of Hunter Biden visiting Ukraine — visits that investigators say never happened.

Smirnov was arrested Wednesday at Harry Reid International Airport in Nevada, and was scheduled for an initial appearance in Nevada federal court Thursday afternoon.

If he’s convicted, he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.

Accusations of corruption by the far right have plagued President Biden, propped up by his political opponents (and backers of former President Donald Trump) who have continually impressed a narrative of a "Biden crime family." House Republicans have, in fits and starts, pushed for Biden’s impeachment, most recently opening a formal impeachment inquiry in Dec. 2023. Hunter Biden is scheduled for a Feb. 28 deposition with the Oversight and Judiciary committees, after ignoring a previous subpoena for a private interview.