Alexander Smirnov, a man who worked as an FBI informant for over ten years, has pleaded guilty to making up a large bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The guilty plea took place in Los Angeles on Monday. It marks the end of a story in which false accusations became the basis for a major impeachment investigation in Congress.
According to prosecutors, the entire story about the Bidens taking millions in bribes from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma was made up. Smirnov, who is 44 and holds both US and Israeli citizenship, first brought these claims to the FBI in June 2020. He alleged that both Joe and Hunter Biden received $5m each from the energy company.
The FBI investigated the statements fairly quickly and recommended that the case be closed without any legal action against the Bidens. Despite this, the allegations continued and fueled a Republican-led effort to investigate the President. That effort included a push to make Smirnov’s initial false statements part of the public record.
A paid informant turned routine contacts into a corruption tale
Prosecutors have stated that Smirnov was motivated by bias against the President. They said he took his routine and ordinary business contacts with Burisma and turned them into elaborate stories of corruption. Claims of foreign payments have surfaced in other political fights too, including one lawmaker who described a crypto bill as a bribe.
Court documents also revealed that Smirnov had ties with Russian intelligence, reports BBC. He admitted to tax evasion as well, having failed to report more than $2m in income. He used that money to fund a lavish lifestyle, including buying a Las Vegas condominium, leasing a Bentley, and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on jewelry, clothes, and accessories.
The case was handled by Special Counsel David Weiss, who has also been overseeing the separate investigation into Hunter Biden. President Joe Biden recently issued a pardon for his son, who was facing possible prison time for tax evasion and for lying on a form about drug addiction when he bought a firearm. Biden has stayed active in politics since, recently accusing Trump of planning election interference.
When FBI agents re-interviewed Smirnov in September 2023, he stood by his claims rather than admitting they were false. He was arrested in Nevada in February 2024 after returning to the United States from a trip abroad. Now that he has entered a plea agreement, he is waiting to be sentenced in January.
The maximum sentence for these crimes is 35 years in prison and a $1m fine. However, the plea deal suggests a sentence between four and six years, along with a restitution payment of $675,502. This agreement still needs approval from a federal judge.
Published: Jun 27, 2026 08:30 am