Son of the US President
FBI informant is said to have fabricated corruption allegations against Hunter Biden – arrested
As the son of the US President, Hunter Biden is a frequent target of Republican attacks during the election campaign
© Jose Luis Magana / AP / DPA
The Republicans wanted to drive the US President out of office with allegations against his son Hunter Biden. Now it seems clear: everything was made up.
In the allegations of the US Republicans against the president’s son There’s a new twist on Hunter Biden’s claim that he exploited his father’s position of power for shady dealings with a Ukrainian company. As the US justice system announced on Thursday, a former informant for the US Federal Police FBI was arrested and charged because he is said to have fabricated the corruption allegations against Hunter Biden.
Alexander Smirnov was arrested at an airport in Las Vegas after returning from abroad, according to the special prosecutor’s office in charge of the investigation against Hunter Biden. The 43-year-old ex-informant lied when he accused Democratic US President Joe Biden and his son Hunter of taking five million dollars (4.65 million euros) in bribes each to protect the Ukrainian gas company Burisma from prosecution to protect.
Smirnov faces up to 25 years in prison for the allegations. His allegations against Joe and Hunter Biden are completely fabricated, the lawsuit says.
But no impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden
The new twist in the case undermines Republican efforts to impeach Joe Biden over his son’s alleged misconduct. Smirnov’s allegations had so far played a central role in the allegations against the US president and his son.
The Republicans accuse Hunter Biden of having abused his father’s important position as President Barack Obama’s deputy for business in Ukraine and China in the past. The conservatives’ attacks are ultimately aimed at President Biden, whom they accuse of being involved in his son’s controversial foreign business dealings and benefiting financially from them.
So far, Republicans have failed to provide any evidence for their accusations against the president, something even conservative politicians admit. The Democrats accuse the Republicans of a political maneuver to damage the incumbent before the presidential election in November – and to take revenge for the two impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump.
The statement of claim against Smirnov states that his allegations are not plausible given the passage of time. Smirnov testified to the FBI in 2020 that he had a meeting with Burisma executives “in 2015 and/or 2016 during the Obama/Biden administration.” They confided in him that, with the help of Hunter Biden and his father, they protected their company “from any problems” with the US justice system and paid each of them five million dollars for this.
Hunter Biden had problems with drugs and alcohol
However, the investigation revealed that Smirnov only came into contact with Burisma in 2017, when Biden’s Republican successor, Trump, was already in power. At that time, Biden was no longer able to influence US politics, the indictment emphasizes. She also highlights that Smirnov waited until 2020 to make his allegations, when Biden emerged as Trump’s challenger in the presidential election.
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The allegations have not left Hunter Biden unscathed. During the course of the investigation, his drug and alcohol problems were highlighted, which he says he now has under control. Investigations were also initiated against him for tax fraud and illegal possession of weapons. Joe Biden and Trump are expected to face each other again in the next US presidential election in November.