The confidential source at the heart of the House GOP investigation into Hunter Biden who was charged with lying last week received the information from Russian intelligence, according to a Department of Justice filing Tuesday.
Alexander Smirnov was charged Thursday with making false statements to the FBI in relation to his testimony about Hunter Biden. Smirnov, who had worked as an FBI informant since 2010, previously told the agency that both President Biden and his son Hunter received $5 million bribes from the head of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma.
In a filing arguing for Smirnov to be detained pending trial, prosecutors wrote that Smirnov told investigators after his arrest that the claims originated from Russian intelligence.
“During his custodial interview on February 14, Smirnov admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story about Businessperson 1,” the filing reads. Businessperson 1 is Hunter Biden.
Smirnov’s Burisma claims were a focus of public attention in the House GOP investigation of Hunter Biden and related impeachment inquiry into the president. Smirnov’s arrest has raised concerns about the validity of other claims in the investigation, though House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said the committee’s impeachment claims are not based on Smirnov’s allegations.
Comer said the FBI previously refused to release an unredacted version of Smirnov’s allegations, citing his privacy as a confidential source.
“The FBI had this form for years and it appears they did nothing to verify the troubling claims contained within the record until Congress became aware of and demanded access to them,” Comer said in a statement last week.
“To be clear, the impeachment inquiry is not reliant on the FBI’s FD-1023,” he continued, referring to Smirnov’s claims.
DOJ prosecutors also argued that Smirnov should be detained because he previously made plans to travel outside the U.S. to meet with “multiple foreign intelligence agencies” that were capable of relocating him outside the U.S.
They further claimed that Smirnov has access to about $6 million in funds, far beyond the $6,500 he claimed to have in pre-trial documents, which would allow him to live abroad should he not be detained.
Smirnov’s detention hearing was scheduled for Tuesday.
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