Alexander Smirnov was indicted alleging that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden received bribes from the Kyiv-based Burisma company.
A former FBI informant has been charged with lying about U.S. President Joe Biden's and his son Hunter's ties to a Ukrainian energy company.
Special Counsel David Weiss, who is leading the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden, announced Thursday that a grand jury indicted Alexander Smirnov on charges of “false statements” and “creating false and fictitious records.”
Smirnov, 43, was arrested at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, after returning to the United States from overseas, Weiss said.
If convicted, Mr. Smirnov could face up to 25 years in prison.
“Despite repeated warnings that the defendant must provide truthful information to the FBI and not fabricate evidence, he made false statements about the Bidens,” prosecutors said in a federal indictment. He provided defamatory information.”
Smirnov alleged that Hunter Biden, a former director of Kyiv-based Burisma, used his father's name to solicit millions of dollars in bribes from the company.
According to the indictment, Mr. Smirnov told the FBI that Burisma executives hired Hunter Biden “to protect him from all kinds of problems through his father,” and that in 2015 or 2016 he paid Hunter and Joe Biden 500 dollars each. He said he paid $1,000.
Republicans used Smirnov's claims to accuse the Biden family of corruption and justify a U.S. House investigation into the president's impeachment.
When then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced an impeachment inquiry against Biden last year, he cited allegations of bribery by a “credible FBI informant.”
Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abby Lowell, said the indictment vindicated months of warnings that Republicans are pushing conspiracy theories fueled by politically motivated people.
“We made the right decision. The air went out of the balloon,” Rowell said.
Hunter Biden, who was indicted last year on tax evasion and firearms charges, served on Burisma's board from 2014 to 2019.
At one point during that period, Joe Biden served as vice president under former President Barack Obama.