(TargetDailyNews.com) – Alexander Smirnov, the former FBI source who prosecutors say gave false statements regarding allegations that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter were involved in corrupt Ukrainian business deals, claimed that Russian intelligence operatives gave him the information about Hunter Biden.
Federal prosecutors have charged Smirnov with lying to the U.S. about President Biden and his son’s alleged bribe-taking. House Republicans had used Smirnov as a witness in their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Smirnov had claimed he had information showing both Bidens had accepted $5 million in bribes from the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, on whose governing board Hunter Biden once had a seat.
The Department of Justice says the information is false and that Smirnov lied. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the senior Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said the desire to impeach Biden is moot because Smirnov’s “revelations destroy the entire case.”
Federal prosecutors say Smirnov has been “actively peddling new lies” that could affect the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. These are piled on top of Smirnov’s earlier claims about the Bidens and Burisma, they say.
Indeed, Smirnov says he has a wide network of connections with spies in Russia and other foreign espionage agents. This is consistent with what he has claimed before to the FBI, including the claim that some in his network of contacts were highly placed intelligence personnel in Russia, and some were even Russian assassins.
Because Smirnov has claimed to have met with Russian intelligence operatives as recently as November 2023, prosecutors asked the court to keep him in jail pending trial. Lawyers working for special counsel David White said in court filings Feb 20 that Smirnov is not only continuing to lie in an attempt to influence the election but that he could use his network of associates to “flee” the U.S.
However, the judge agreed to release Smirnov on bail, but required him to be monitored by a GPS device and to turn over his passports.
Copyright 2024, TargetDailyNews.com
