Hunter Biden Probe: FBI Informant Charged for Lying About Joe Biden Ties to Ukrainian Energy Company

Authorities have charged FBI informant Alexander Smirnov after it was found that he lied to the agency about payments that a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, allegedly made to Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

In June 2020, Smirnov reportedly told FBI agents that Burisma executives paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016, with Smirnov also claiming that a Burisma executive had claimed that they hired Hunter Biden to "protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems."

These allegations that Smirnov made against the Bidens were one of the main accusations made by House Republicans against Joe Biden and Hunter Biden until these accusations were found to be false as it was proven that Smirnov lied. However, Republicans acknowledged at that time that it was unclear if Smirnov's claims were actually true, according to the Associated Press.

Prosecutors pointed out that Smirnov claimed that Burisma executives had contact with him near the end of the Obama administration when Joe Biden was still the vice president. However, it was later found that the contact took place after Obama and Biden left office and Donald Trump was already president. This meant that Biden would have had no ability to influence US foreign policy.

"In short, the Defendant transformed his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations against Public Official 1, the presumptive nominee of one of the two major political parties for President, after expressing bias against Public Official 1 and his candidacy," read the indictment against Smirnov.

He also repeated some of his false claims when the FBI interviewed him in September 2023. He then reportedly changed his story and "promoted a new false narrative after he said he met with Russian officials."

Republican Witness Admits She Did Not Find Any Wrongdoing by Joe Biden in Hunter Biden Probe

The indictment of the FBI informant came after House Republicans wanting to impeach Joe Biden were dealt another big blow when Karen Tramontano, CEO of Blue Star Strategies and a Republican witness, admitted under oath that she was unaware of any involvement by President Joe Biden in his son Hunter's business deals.

"Neither Hunter Biden nor then Vice President Joe Biden had any financial or other involvement in my firm's work with Burisma," the Republican witness told lawmakers in her testimony. "I am also not aware of any financial arrangements or compensation to then Vice President Biden related to his son's business dealings with Burisma or otherwise."

Republicans tried to paint Joe Biden as having profited from his son's alleged influence peddling. However, Tramontano is the latest victim to admit they did not see any wrongdoing on the part of the elder Biden and that he was not involved in his son's work abroad.

Senior Republican Lawmaker Also Previously Admitted He Saw No Wrongdoing on Joe Biden's Part

It was not just the witnesses who are saying they found no wrongdoing on Joe Biden's part over his son's foreign business dealings. In December last year, Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley stated he had seen "no evidence" that the POTUS is involved in his son Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings, according to The Hill.

"I'm going to take the same position that I've taken since 2019 that all I can say is there's some indication, maybe some compromise with China particularly, but I have no evidence of it," the senior Senate Republican admitted during an interview. He added that the facts "haven't taken me to that point where I can say that the president's guilty of anything."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Informant charged with lying about Joe and Hunter Biden's ties to Burisma - PBS NewsHour