A former FBI informant whose claims were cited by Republicans in their effort to impeach Joe Biden pleaded guilty Monday to fabricating allegations of corruption involving the president and his family, the Associated Press reported.
Alexander Smirnov was indicted in February for peddling false claims about Biden and his son, Hunter, supposedly receiving millions of dollars in bribes from a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma. The indictment was brought by special counsel David Weiss, a Trump-appointed prosecutor who led the investigation into Hunter Biden, who was himself charged with failing to report taxes and lying about his drug addiction while obtaining a firearm.
It was first reported last week that Smirnov had agreed to enter a guilty plea as part of an arrangement with prosecutors.
Smirnov's unverified and now-debunked claims were frequently cited by congressional Republicans, who accused the FBI of covering up allegations of wrongdoing level against the Bidens.
Following his arrest earlier this year, Smirnov told investigators that his assertions about the Bidens had come from "officials associated with Russian intelligence," including a claim that Hunter Biden had been secretly recorded while staying in a Ukrainian hotel; as the AP notes, the president's son has never visited the country.
Prosecutors are asking that Smirnov be imprisoned for up to six years for lying to investigators and evading taxes. He will be sentenced next month.
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