WASHINGTON — A former FBI informant whose false claims about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden were at "the heart" of the Republican impeachment inquiry against the president has now been indicted on tax charges.
Alexander Smirnov, the former FBI informant charged with lying to the FBI about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, has now been indicted on 10 separate tax-related charges.
The new indictment states that Smirnov “received more than two million dollars in income from multiple sources in 2020, 2021, and 2022” and bought “a $1.4 million Las Vegas condominium, a Bentley, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of clothes, jewelry and accessories for himself and Domestic Partner purchased at high-end retailers in Los Angeles and Las Vegas."
Smirnov's attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said he "intends to vigorously fight these allegations with the same intensity as he has fought the original indictment."
The charges against Smirnov, who had been a confidential human source for the FBI since 2010, were brought by David Weiss, the special counsel on the Hunter Biden case, which resulted in convictions on gun charges in June and tax charges in September.
Before Smirnov was indicted, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said his claims were "the heart" of Republicans' impeachment inquiry against the president. Biden has denied any wrongdoing.
In February, federal prosecutors said that Smirnov claimed some of his information came from "officials associated with Russian intelligence." Prosecutors said Smirnov was "actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials" in Nov. 2023. Russia had sought to aid Trump's campaign, and even paid right-wing influencers, according to a separate indictment returned in September.
U.S. District Judge Otis Wright also issued an order in Smirnov’s false statements case today, ahead of a trial that is now set to get underway on Jan. 8, 2025.
