[DM] - Special counsel David Weiss charged Alexander Smirnov with lying about Biden after he became a presidential candidate
- Smirnov was arrested at the airport in Las Vegas on Thursday
- The charges undercut the Republican claims of Biden benefitting financially from his son's business dealings in Ukraine
The indictment alleges Smirnov transformed his routine business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations against Biden after expressing bias against Biden and his presidential candidacy.
When Smirnov was interviewed by the FBI in September 2023, the indictment alleges he repeated some of his false claims, changed his story with other claims, and 'promoted a new false narrative after he said he met with Russian officials.'
House Republicans had seized on the FBI document alleging the $5 million bribe as part of their investigation into the president. The indictment undermines that key component in their case.
Following the indictment, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-MD, called on House Republicans to end their impeachment inquiry. |