An FBI informant has been charged with lying to his handler about ties between Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company.
Alexander Smirnov falsely told FBI agents in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5m each in 2015 and 2016, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Smirnov told the FBI that a Burisma executive had claimed to have hired Hunter Biden to âprotect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problemsâ, prosecutors said in a statement.
The allegations became a flashpoint in Congress over the summer as Republicans demanded the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the allegations as they pursued investigations of Biden and his family. They acknowledged at the time that it was unclear if the allegations were true.
The new development sharply undermines the thrust of congressional Republicansâ corruption accusations that the US president was making money from his son Hunterâs business dealings in Ukraine.
Smirnov, 43, was charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record. No attorney was immediately listed for him in court records. He was expected to make a first court appearance in Las Vegas, where he was arrested on Wednesday after arriving from overseas, prosecutors said.
The charges were filed by the justice department special counsel David Weiss, who has separately charged Hunter Biden with firearm and tax violations.
More details soon â¦
The Associated Press contributed reporting