President Biden, first lady Jill Biden and Hunter Biden watch fireworks during an Independence Day event at the White House on July 4, 2023. Special counsel David Weiss — who has previously filed criminal charges against President Biden’s son Hunter — announced new charges Thursday against a former FBI informant who officials say lied about the Bidens’ business dealings.accuses Alexander Smirnov of making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record.
Comer and other congressional Republicans spent months arguing that the FBI informant’s claims were evidence that Hunter Biden — and by extension his father —Thursday’s indictment implicitly argues that some of the most sensational charges Republicans have sought to level against the president and his son were based on lies.
Authorities allege that Smirnov, in talking to his FBI handler, repeatedly expressed dislike for Joe Biden, and at one point texted the agent that Biden was “going to jail.” But in Smirnov’s case, Republicans made his allegations a kind of cause célèbre, saying he had offered key information in their probe of Hunter Biden and the president. FBI officials were repeatedly forced to answer politicians’ questions about Smirnov’s claims and faced accusations from conservatives that the FBI itself may be corrupt.