Ex-FBI informant pleads guilty in LA to lying about Bidens

An ex-FBI informant who once lived in Calabasas pleaded guilty Monday to fabricating a story that President Joe Biden and son Hunter each took $5 million bribes from the owner of a Ukrainian energy company.

Alexander Smirnov, 44, most recently a resident of Las Vegas, entered a plea to federal charges of creating a false record in a federal investigation and three counts of tax evasion for failing to pay taxes and penalties on $2.1 million in income for 2020 through 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II set sentencing for Jan. 8.

Smirnov faces a sentence of up to six years in federal prison, according to his plea deal, which states he will be required to pay $675,502 in restitution.

Smirnov's false allegation was taken up by Republicans, who made the unverified claims part of their effort to impeach President Biden. Republicans alleged Hunter had attempted to use his influence through Burisma during the Obama administration.

Smirnov, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was accused in a 37-page, two-count indictment of making false statements to FBI agents in June 2020, when he told them about meetings with an executive from Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that employed Hunter Biden as an attorney and later as a member of its corporate board.

The defendant also told agents that Burisma executives made $5 million payments to both Joe and Hunter Biden when Joe Biden was vice president, court papers show. No evidence emerged that the allegations against the Bidens were true.

Additional reporting by City News Service.