Hunter Biden
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So Hunter has offered to testify before Congress as long as it is done publicly and broadcast live. GOP didn't like that and subpoenaed him for a closed door interrogation and he defied that subpoena today. Now Jim Jordon is going off over it.
‘Jim Jordan is an Absolute Hypocrite’: Adam Kinzinger Rips Former Colleague’s Inconsistency On Enforcing Subpoenas
Ex-GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) tore into his former colleague Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Wednesday after Jordan vowed to pursue contempt of Congress charges against Hunter Biden for defying a Congressional subpoena – something Jordan himself once did.
CNN anchor Kate Bolduan recapped the morning’s events, which included Hunter Biden skipping a closed-door deposition and making a defiant statement on the steps of Capitol Hill.
“We’ve heard Republicans speak out after Hunter Biden made his comments. They’re not happy. They’re not going to stop their investigation, as we know. One thing we heard from Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is this. He said, when Congress asks you to come testify, you are supposed to come testifying. As someone who served on the committee who issued a subpoena to Jim Jordan, which he defied, what are people supposed to take from this?” Bolduan asked.
“Well, they’re supposed to take that Jim Jordan is an absolute hypocrite,” Kinzinger shot back, adding:
Bolduan then asked if Kinzinger believed the current House impeachment inquiry will result in a vote to try and impeach President Joe Biden. “Look, if I was in Vegas betting, I would put all of my money on no matter what this ends in impeachment. And I said this at the beginning of the year. Keep in mind, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who’s now the de facto head of the GOP,” he replied.
Special Council out here charging everyone on both sides of the case he is working.
Trump appointed Special Council that charged Hunter Biden with Gun charges and Tax Evasion charges has also charged the FBI Informant who accused Hunter and Joe of Burisma dealings. The charges accuses the informant of lying to the FBI about Joe and Hunter Biden's relationship to Burisma, during the 2020 POTUS Campaign and made multiple false and derogatory claims to the FBI during this period.
This witness was the guy that entire GOP impeachment strategy against Biden was being built on. He was arrested and is now in custody
Alexander Smirnov, 43, disliked Joe Biden and was arrested in Las Vegas after returning from a trip overseas, according to the Justice Department. The case grew out of the special counsel investigation being led by David Weiss, who is also leading the case against Hunter Biden. Weiss had been appointed by then-President Donald Trump as the top federal prosecutor in Delaware.
The 37-page indictment alleges that Smirnov had been a confidential human source for the FBI since 2010 and "provided false derogatory information to the FBI" about both Bidens after Joe Biden became a candidate for president in 2020.
He is facing one count of making a false statement to a government agent and falsification of records in a federal investigation.
Smirnov allegedly told the FBI — falsely — that officials with Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that Hunter Biden worked for, had told him they hired Hunter Biden because he would "protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems." Smirnov allegedly told the FBI — again, falsely — that Burisma officials had told him they paid Hunter Biden and Joe Biden $5 million and that it would take investigators 10 years to find the illicit payments to Joe Biden.
A source familiar with the matter told NBC News that Hunter Biden does not know the individual who was charged and does not believe he ever met him.
An attorney for Hunter Biden told NBC News that Republicans had been warned that they “built their conspiracies about Hunter and his family on lies told by people with agendas, not facts.”
“This is just another instance of Chairman [James] Comer and [Rep. Jim] Jordan peddling falsehoods based on dishonest, uncredible allegations and witnesses,” Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s attorney, continued in the statement.
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin called for an end to the impeachment inquiry following the announcement of the indictment against Smirnov.
Smirnov's account was critical to Republicans' impeachment inquiry into the president.
“This is the biggest political corruption scandal, not only in my lifetime, but I would say the past 100 years,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., chair of the House Republican Conference, told “Fox & Friends” in June of what Republicans had termed the “Biden bribery scheme.”
But according to the indictment, Smirnov's claims to the FBI, which he first made in June 2020, "were fabrications," and, in truth, he only "had contact with executives from Burisma in 2017," when Joe Biden had left office as vice president and "had no ability" to influence U.S. policy.
"In short, the Defendant transformed his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations against [Joe Biden], the presumptive nominee of one of the two major political parties for President, after expressing bias against [Joe Biden] and his candidacy," the indictment alleges.
The indictment also states that Smirnov "repeated some of his false claims" after being interviewed by FBI special agents last September — after Hunter Biden's plea deal fell apart that summer — while Smirnov "changed his story as to other of his claims, and promoted a new false narrative after he said he met with Russian officials."
Smirnov wrote in one May 2020 message to his FBI handler that Joe Biden was "going to jail" and suggested that he knew some of the allegations "should be soon in the news."
Smirnov was told at least seven times he may have to testify about information he provided to FBI and was admonished by the handler at least 21 times to tell the truth to the bureau, the indictment says.
The House Oversight Committee first learned of an issue with this confidential informant from the special counsel indictment being made public Thursday afternoon, a source familiar with the Biden family impeachment investigation told NBC News. DOJ, the FBI, and Weiss' office have not reached out to the committee, according to the source.
FBI Director Christopher Wray and other bureau officials briefed members of Congress on this issue last year during multiple in-person meetings. During those meetings, questions about the credibility of this confidential human source were asked, and the FBI told lawmakers that the source was highly valued by the FBI, was considered the "go to" source in the region, and had been paid six figures for work to date.
The FBI officials said at the time that they would not release the records being requested by Congress because the source was so highly valued and involved in multiple ongoing investigations.
A judge on Thursday ordered Smirnov to be detained pending a detention hearing, which has been scheduled for a federal court in Las Vegas next Tuesday at 3 p.m., the special counsel's office confirmed to NBC News.
Trump appointed Special Council that charged Hunter Biden with Gun charges and Tax Evasion charges has also charged the FBI Informant who accused Hunter and Joe of Burisma dealings. The charges accuses the informant of lying to the FBI about Joe and Hunter Biden's relationship to Burisma, during the 2020 POTUS Campaign and made multiple false and derogatory claims to the FBI during this period.
This witness was the guy that entire GOP impeachment strategy against Biden was being built on. He was arrested and is now in custody
Special counsel charges FBI informant with lying to the bureau about Hunter and Joe Biden
WASHINGTON — An FBI informant has been indicted on two counts for allegedly feeding the bureau false information about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign.Alexander Smirnov, 43, disliked Joe Biden and was arrested in Las Vegas after returning from a trip overseas, according to the Justice Department. The case grew out of the special counsel investigation being led by David Weiss, who is also leading the case against Hunter Biden. Weiss had been appointed by then-President Donald Trump as the top federal prosecutor in Delaware.
The 37-page indictment alleges that Smirnov had been a confidential human source for the FBI since 2010 and "provided false derogatory information to the FBI" about both Bidens after Joe Biden became a candidate for president in 2020.
He is facing one count of making a false statement to a government agent and falsification of records in a federal investigation.
Smirnov allegedly told the FBI — falsely — that officials with Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that Hunter Biden worked for, had told him they hired Hunter Biden because he would "protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems." Smirnov allegedly told the FBI — again, falsely — that Burisma officials had told him they paid Hunter Biden and Joe Biden $5 million and that it would take investigators 10 years to find the illicit payments to Joe Biden.
A source familiar with the matter told NBC News that Hunter Biden does not know the individual who was charged and does not believe he ever met him.
An attorney for Hunter Biden told NBC News that Republicans had been warned that they “built their conspiracies about Hunter and his family on lies told by people with agendas, not facts.”
“This is just another instance of Chairman [James] Comer and [Rep. Jim] Jordan peddling falsehoods based on dishonest, uncredible allegations and witnesses,” Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s attorney, continued in the statement.
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin called for an end to the impeachment inquiry following the announcement of the indictment against Smirnov.
Smirnov's account was critical to Republicans' impeachment inquiry into the president.
“This is the biggest political corruption scandal, not only in my lifetime, but I would say the past 100 years,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., chair of the House Republican Conference, told “Fox & Friends” in June of what Republicans had termed the “Biden bribery scheme.”
But according to the indictment, Smirnov's claims to the FBI, which he first made in June 2020, "were fabrications," and, in truth, he only "had contact with executives from Burisma in 2017," when Joe Biden had left office as vice president and "had no ability" to influence U.S. policy.
"In short, the Defendant transformed his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations against [Joe Biden], the presumptive nominee of one of the two major political parties for President, after expressing bias against [Joe Biden] and his candidacy," the indictment alleges.
The indictment also states that Smirnov "repeated some of his false claims" after being interviewed by FBI special agents last September — after Hunter Biden's plea deal fell apart that summer — while Smirnov "changed his story as to other of his claims, and promoted a new false narrative after he said he met with Russian officials."
Smirnov wrote in one May 2020 message to his FBI handler that Joe Biden was "going to jail" and suggested that he knew some of the allegations "should be soon in the news."
Smirnov was told at least seven times he may have to testify about information he provided to FBI and was admonished by the handler at least 21 times to tell the truth to the bureau, the indictment says.
The House Oversight Committee first learned of an issue with this confidential informant from the special counsel indictment being made public Thursday afternoon, a source familiar with the Biden family impeachment investigation told NBC News. DOJ, the FBI, and Weiss' office have not reached out to the committee, according to the source.
FBI Director Christopher Wray and other bureau officials briefed members of Congress on this issue last year during multiple in-person meetings. During those meetings, questions about the credibility of this confidential human source were asked, and the FBI told lawmakers that the source was highly valued by the FBI, was considered the "go to" source in the region, and had been paid six figures for work to date.
The FBI officials said at the time that they would not release the records being requested by Congress because the source was so highly valued and involved in multiple ongoing investigations.
A judge on Thursday ordered Smirnov to be detained pending a detention hearing, which has been scheduled for a federal court in Las Vegas next Tuesday at 3 p.m., the special counsel's office confirmed to NBC News.
Former FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens’ role in Ukraine business, undercutting GOP impeachment inquiry
WASHINGTON ― A former FBI informant has been indicted by a Justice Department special counsel for allegedly lying about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings in a major setback for House Republicans' impeachment inquiry of the president.
Alexander Smirnov, 43, was charged with two counts of making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record for information he fed the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Smirnov, who is described in the indictment as an FBI informant beginning in 2010, was arrested Wednesday at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas after a federal grand jury in the Central District of California returned the indictment.
The charges were brought by special counsel David Weiss, who has previously brought tax and gun-related charges against Hunter Biden. House Republicans have cited Smirnov's story about Hunter Biden's business dealings in their impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden.
Smirnov is accused of falsely claiming executives of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma admitted to him in 2015 and 2016 that they hired Hunter Biden to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems." Hunter Biden was a Burisma board member.
Smirnov made the claim to investigators in June 2020 when Joe Biden was a presidential candidate.
Prosecutors say Smirnov also lied about Burisma executives telling him they paid $5 million apiece to then-Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter so that Hunter "will take care of all those issues through his dad."
Smirnov's remarks were a reference to a criminal investigation into Burisma by then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. But in reality, according to Weiss, Smirnov only had contact with executives in 2017, at the end of the Obama-Biden administration and after Shokin had already been fired in February 2016.
"In other words," the 37-page indictment reads, Smirnov's involvement with Burisma came when then-Vice President Joe Biden "had no ability to influence U.S. policy and when the Prosecutor General was no longer in office."
Smirnov "transformed his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma" into bribery allegations against Biden, according to prosecutors. Weiss accuses Smirnov of being motivated by political bias, pointing to text messages in which Smirnov boasted about having information that would put Biden in jail.
Smirnov is accused of repeating the same false claims to FBI agents in September 2023, changing his story about other claims and promoting "a new false narrative after he said he met with Russian officials."
The charges against Smirnov could deliver a damaging blow to House Republicans' efforts to impeach President Joe Biden over unsubstantiated claims that he received bribe payments through his son's work in Ukraine in exchange for steering U.S. policy.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, which has led the investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings, downplayed Smirnov's indictment, arguing the impeachment inquiry of President Biden is not reliant on information that Smirnov provided to the FBI.
"It is based on a large record of evidence, including bank records and witness testimony, revealing that Joe Biden knew of and participated in his family’s business dealings," Comer said.
But Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member of the Oversight Committee, called on Republicans to end their "doomed impeachment inquiry" following the charges brought against Smirnov.
“In a detailed indictment, Special Counsel David Weiss − who was appointed by former President Donald Trump − has demonstrated how key evidence at the heart of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry is based on a lie," Raskin said.
Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's attorney, called the indictment of Smirnov "just another example" of House Republicans "peddling falsehoods based on dishonest, uncredible allegations and witnesses.”
“For months we have warned that Republicans have built their conspiracies about Hunter and his family on lies told by people with political agendas, not facts," Lowell said. "We were right and the air is out of their balloon."
GOP Star Witness: My Stories Came From The Kremlin
In a new memo filed by prosecutors in Nevada arguing for the detention of Alexander Smirnov, the man charged with lying to investigators about Hunter Biden's connection to Burisma, a Ukrainian-based company, it was noted that Smirnov allegedly had contacts with high-level Russian operatives. The memo was filed by prosecutors as part of an effort to keep Smirnov behind bars pending trial.
An interesting wrinkle in this case is that Smirnov was once an FBI informant unrelated to the claims he pushed about the Bidens. Prosecutors in their memo focused their arguments on how Smirnov is a flight risk given his substantial overseas contacts and financial resources. Specifically, prosecutors cite to the fact that Smirnov has access to over $6 million dollars in cash that would aid a possible flight overseas, while also noting that he had several contacts with high level Russian officials.
The memo goes on to describe how Smirnov reported a story to his FBI handler that, "The Russian Intelligence Service intercepted several calls placed by prominent U.S. persons the Russian government may use as “kompromat” in the 2024 election, depending on who the candidates will be." While the memo did not confirm these high level contacts, prosecutors base their contacts on Smirnov's own assertions and allege that Smirnov peddled lies that were meant to impact the 2024 election after meeting with these high-level Russian officials.
Smirnov was the same individual Republicans in Congress relied upon when pushing the now-debunked allegations that Hunter Biden was connected with Ukrainian officials and used his relationship with then Vice President Joe Biden to peddle influencer for foreign individuals. While House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has used these false allegations as a central theme in his push to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, he was not the only one. Last year, Senator Chuck Grassley touted Smirnov's allegations.
We now know that this informant was potentially receiving information from Russian sources and later passing that information on to American individuals. As it currently stands, the Republican push to impeach President Biden is falling apart at the seams.
Russians ‘Involved In Passing A Story’ To Key Biden Impeachment Witness About Hunter Biden, Prosecutors Say https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollyb...ations&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=4257497
In a new memo filed by prosecutors in Nevada arguing for the detention of Alexander Smirnov, the man charged with lying to investigators about Hunter Biden's connection to Burisma, a Ukrainian-based company, it was noted that Smirnov allegedly had contacts with high-level Russian operatives. The memo was filed by prosecutors as part of an effort to keep Smirnov behind bars pending trial.
An interesting wrinkle in this case is that Smirnov was once an FBI informant unrelated to the claims he pushed about the Bidens. Prosecutors in their memo focused their arguments on how Smirnov is a flight risk given his substantial overseas contacts and financial resources. Specifically, prosecutors cite to the fact that Smirnov has access to over $6 million dollars in cash that would aid a possible flight overseas, while also noting that he had several contacts with high level Russian officials.
The memo goes on to describe how Smirnov reported a story to his FBI handler that, "The Russian Intelligence Service intercepted several calls placed by prominent U.S. persons the Russian government may use as “kompromat” in the 2024 election, depending on who the candidates will be." While the memo did not confirm these high level contacts, prosecutors base their contacts on Smirnov's own assertions and allege that Smirnov peddled lies that were meant to impact the 2024 election after meeting with these high-level Russian officials.
Smirnov was the same individual Republicans in Congress relied upon when pushing the now-debunked allegations that Hunter Biden was connected with Ukrainian officials and used his relationship with then Vice President Joe Biden to peddle influencer for foreign individuals. While House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has used these false allegations as a central theme in his push to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, he was not the only one. Last year, Senator Chuck Grassley touted Smirnov's allegations.
We now know that this informant was potentially receiving information from Russian sources and later passing that information on to American individuals. As it currently stands, the Republican push to impeach President Biden is falling apart at the seams.
Russians ‘Involved In Passing A Story’ To Key Biden Impeachment Witness About Hunter Biden, Prosecutors Say https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollyb...ations&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=4257497
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25 year vet of the Secret Service sues NY Post and Daily Mail saying Text messages they published claiming to have been found on Hunter Biden's laptop are Fake and that he has never talked to or ever met Hunter Biden.
James Cormer even referenced these Text while pushing his (now failed) Impeachment of Biden on Fox News in 2023....he is now refusing to make any comment on these Text messages.In Hunters deposition to the House Oversight Committee under Oath in Feb 2024, Hunter testified he had never met this agent and didn't know him and had never talked to him.
Former Secret Service agent sues New York Post and Daily Mail over Hunter Biden claim
former Secret Service agent sued two news organizations for defamation Tuesday and accused them of publishing stories based on fabricated text messages that he says falsely linked him to Hunter Biden.Robert Savage, a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Secret Service and the Special Agent in Charge of the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office from 2015-2017, filed the lawsuits in New York against the New York Post and two of its reporters and the owner and publisher of the Daily Mail.
Savage alleged that the reporters and publications recklessly disregarded information that the text messages, which came from a laptop that purportedly belonged to Hunter Biden, were fabricated. Despite that, they published articles and tweets in 2021 and 2023 that suggested Savage communicated with and met and met with Biden in Los Angeles.
“Rob has not and has never met Hunter Biden, does not know Hunter Biden, has no connection with Hunter Biden, and has never corresponded with Hunter Biden,” Savage’s attorney, Mark Goidell, told NBC News. He added that Savage was "flabbergasted by the false reporting” and that the former agent was filing the lawsuits out for concern for his own well-being and that of his family and business.
“I am fully convinced that the New York Post and the Daily Mail were aware that their factual allegations were false and that the text messages they attributed to Rob were fabricated” Goidell said. He accused the new organizations of publishing the stories to “sensationalize their publications” and increase revenue.
A representative for the New York Post declined to comment. The owner and publisher of the Daily Mail did not immediately respond to requests for comment by telephone and email.
James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, which has investigated Biden, appeared to reference the text messages in an interview with Fox News in 2023.
“There are numerous instances where the Secret Service came and tried to bail Hunter out when he was in a jam,” Comer said. “When he was in California and getting in all kinds of trouble, getting kicked out of a very exclusive hotel there.”
A spokesperson for Comer declined to comment.
In a deposition to the House Oversight Committee conducted under oath in February, Hunter Biden denied knowing Savage or meeting with him.
“There is a fabricated conversation between me and a supposed Secret Service agent in a hotel room in Los Angeles” Biden said. “He has never met me, he has never had any conversation with me."
The text messages were part of a collection of data from an Apple computer that the owner of a repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware said a man he believes was Hunter Biden left in his store 2019. Data from the laptop ended up in the possession of allies of former President Donald Trump, including Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon, and was given to conservative news outlets and later NBC News and other media organizations.
The lawsuits state that the telephone number associated with the texts was from a one-use voice over internet provider that was not associated with Savage.
The lawsuits claim that the stories resulted in significant damage to Savage’s reputation and emotional distress, due to “threats to his life” as well as loss of contracts and other business opportunities.
The purported text message exchange has been a focus of law enforcement officials, federal prosecutors and Republicans in Congress.
In March 2022, Savage was visited at his home by an FBI agent and an IRS agent who said they wanted to ask him questions about his association with Hunter Biden and the laptop. Savage was also served with a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorneys Office in Delaware, which later charged him with tax and gun charges.
NBC News obtained security footage of the interaction, copies of the business cards left by the agents and a copy of the subpoena.
The IRS agent identified himself as Joseph Ziegler, who testified as a whistleblower to a House committee investigating Hunter Biden in 2023. Ziegler alleged that the Department of Justice prosecutors limited his investigation of Hunter Biden, a charge that DOJ officiales denied. Ziegler’s attorney declined to comment.
Goidell said that the law enforcement agencies appear to have ended their investigations of the alleged text exchanges between Savage and Biden.
“Rob was extremely cooperative and demonstrated to the agents why and how the allegations were false and fabricated,” he said. “They were apparently satisfied that Rob was truthful because there has been no additional contact from any law enforcement agency.”
The FBI, the IRS, and the office of Special Counsel David Weiss, the former U.S. Attorney from Delaware who is investigating, declined to comment.
Savage was named in a lawsuit between a fashion designer and “real housewife” Erika Girardi, that included an allegation that savage was bribed to wrongfully investigate the designer for credit card fraud. Savage denied the allegation, and earlier this month a federal judge said he plans to dismiss the claim against Savage in a tentative order to dismiss.
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