Ex-FBI informants false Biden allegations came from Russian sources: prosecutors – National [Video]

A former FBI informant charged with making up a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company had contacts with officials affiliated with Russian intelligence, prosecutors said in a court paper Tuesday.

Prosecutors revealed the alleged contact as they urged a judge to keep Alexander Smirnov behind bars while he awaits trial. He’s charged with falsely reporting to the FBI in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden US$5 million each in 2015 or 2016. The claim has been central to the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress.

Gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden are separate from the claims made by the informant.

But Hunter Biden’s attorneys say the chatter over the informant contributed to the collapse of the plea deal offered to Hunter Biden last summer.

Smirnov is due in court later Tuesday in Las Vegas. …