A previous informant for the FBI, who is accused of providing false information about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s purported business interactions with a Ukrainian energy firm, has decided to plead guilty to federal charges, as noted in a court document released on Thursday.

Alexander Smirnov made this agreement with U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss, who oversaw the criminal inquiry into Hunter Biden, the documents reveal. Hunter Biden was recently pardoned by the president after facing federal gun and tax violations.

Smirnov, who has worked as an FBI informant for many years, was taken into custody in February following an indictment from a federal grand jury in California. He faced allegations of falsely telling the FBI in 2020 that the Ukrainian company Burisma had paid substantial bribes to Joe Biden while he served as vice president, and to Hunter Biden, who was a board member of the company.

This plea comes shortly after Smirnov was charged in another case related to federal tax violations, which includes hiding over two million dollars in earnings from various sources between 2020 and 2022, according to court records.

In the plea deal, Smirnov will admit guilt for one count of causing the creation of a false record during a federal investigation, along with three counts of tax evasion related to the years 2020, 2021, and 2022.

As part of this agreement, Smirnov could potentially receive a prison sentence ranging from four to six years, along with one year of supervised release and an obligation to repay more than $675,000.

Who is Alexander Smirnov?

Prosecutors indicated that Smirnov was a confidential human source for the FBI and was allocated to a handling agent who was a special agent involved in investigating federal criminal law violations.

During his time as an informant, Smirnov provided information to his handling agent that was used in different criminal investigations from 2010 to 2020. Prosecutors noted that he had received warnings from his handling agent about providing accurate information since he began his role as an informant in 2010, and received similar warnings multiple times afterward.

“Despite several warnings that he needed to provide truthful information to the FBI and refrain from fabricating evidence, Smirnov reported false and damaging information to the FBI” concerning Joe and Hunter Biden in 2020, court documents indicated.

Smirnov’s assertions were recorded by the FBI on a form known as FD-1023, utilized by investigators to document information from confidential informants. YSL News previously reported that Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, obtained this document and shared it with House Republicans last year.

Initially, Smirnov was regarded as a credible informant by Republicans who challenged the president and his son’s associations with Burisma.

Allegations Against Joe and Hunter Biden

Court documents reveal that Smirnov claimed that during two meetings in 2015 and/or 2016, Burisma’s Ukrainian executives informed him they employed Hunter Biden to “shield us, through his dad, from various troubles.”

Smirnov also alleged that the Ukrainian executives subsequently paid $5 million each to Joe and Hunter Biden to “resolve all those issues through his dad,” referring to a criminal investigation into Burisma that was led by then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.

However, prosecutors stated that Smirnov only engaged with Burisma executives towards the end of the Obama administration in 2017, and after Shokin’s dismissal in 2016.

“In essence,” the court documents state, Smirnov’s interaction with Burisma occurred when Joe Biden “could not exert influence over U.S. policy and the Prosecutor General was no longer in his position.”

“In summary, the Defendant turned his routine and ordinary business interactions with Burisma in 2017 and afterwards into bribery allegations against (Joe Biden), who was the likely nominee of a major political party for President, after showing bias against (Joe Biden) and his candidacy,” the documents emphasized.

Smirnov’s claims played a significant role in the House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry against the president.