US prosecutors allege that an FBI source accused of lying about US President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company was in contact with Russian intelligence agents.
The source in question, 43-year-old Alexander Smirnov, was arrested in Las Vegas on Wednesday last week. According to the indictment, he allegedly provided false information to FBI agents. Executives at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma claimed they hired Hunter Biden “to protect us, through his father, from all kinds of trouble.” In exchange for this, the company was going to pay Hunter and Joe Biden five million dollars each.
At a court hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors said that Smirnov mentioned in his interrogation that people connected to the Russian intelligence service were involved in transmitting information about Hunter Biden.
Prosecutors also alleged that the communications were extensive, occurred in the near future, and that Smirnov intended to meet one of these people during a trip abroad.
Smirnov's information was at the heart of the corruption allegations leveled by Republican members of Congress against the president and his son, and formed the basis of the impeachment investigation launched by Republicans against the president.
So far, Republicans have failed to present any evidence that could actually lead to the impeachment of Joe Biden.
Behind the indictment against Smirnoff is private investigator David Weiss, who also accused Hunter Biden of tax crimes and weapons crimes.
If convicted, Smirnov faces up to 25 years in prison.
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