Former FBI informant accused of lying about Bidens indicted on tax charges

A former FBI informant who is accused of lying about a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family has been indicted in a new case on federal tax charges.

What Are the Tax Charges?

Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant, faces accusations of tax evasion and filing false tax returns.

The indictment, unsealed in a California federal court this week and brought by Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, charges Smirnov with tax evasion and filing false tax returns, accusing him of concealing millions of dollars of income he earned between 2020 and 2022.

Smirnov’s attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday that their client “intends to vigorously fight these allegations with the same intensity as he has fought the original indictment.”

Smirnov’s Legal Troubles

The tax charges come months after Smirnov’s arrest on earlier charges of fabricating claims against the Biden family.

As a “confidential human source” in June 2020, Smirnov said executives at Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid the Bidens “$5 million each” in exchange for favors from Joe Biden during his term as vice president. Smirnov reportedly claimed the payments were made to shield the company from legal troubles through Hunter Biden’s influence on his father.

Hunter Biden was previously a paid board member of Burisma.

His claim was crucial evidence in House Republicans’ inquiries into the current president and his family.

House Republicans tried to impeach Biden on accusations that the president was involved with and benefited from his son Hunter’s foreign business dealings while he was vice president under Barack Obama.

The White House has repeatedly denied that Biden ever had anything to do with his son’s dealings, and the president has called the probe a “baseless political stunt.”

Smirnov has since been indicted with making false statements and manufacturing false records concerning the Bidens’ business dealings in Ukraine, and the Justice Department has said he should remain in custody because of his alleged ties with Russian intelligence agencies. Smirnov has denied the allegations in the case.

According to court documents, Smirnov’s interactions with Burisma were limited to routine business dealings in 2017 as prosecutors assert that Smirnov’s accusations were politically motivated, noting his explicit bias against Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign.

His trial in the case charging him with lying about the Biden family has been delayed until January.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.