Former FBI informant behind false Biden-Ukraine corruption charges sentenced

Former FBI informant behind  false Biden-Ukraine  corruption charges sentenced to 6 years in prison

The disgraced former FBI informant who falsely accused President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden of  accepting a $10 million bribe from Ukraine was sentenced Wednesday to six years in federal  prison.
The former informant, Alexander Smirnov, who  holds dual  U.S.-Israeli citizenship, has been in  prison since his arrest last  February.
The sentencing in Los Angeles  ends one of the final  legs of special counsel David  Weiss' investigation into Hunter Biden and related  cases. The only  item on the agenda that appears to be  pending is  Weiss's final report, which,  under federal regulations, will be submitted to the attorney general, who can then  make it  public.
Smirnov's explosive indictment  — and subsequent public repudiation of his  false corruption allegations — helped derail the Republican impeachment  campaign against Biden. Prosecutors  indicted Smirnov  on additional tax charges in November, and with a  pending trial, he pleaded guilty last month to causing the creation of a false FBI  file, as well as three counts of tax  evasion.
As part of the  agreement, prosecutors agreed to ask the judge for  a maximum sentence of six years in prison, and Smirnov's team agreed to ask for  a minimum of four years. Smirnov also  agreed to pay about $675,000 in restitution to the  IRS to  compensate for his tax  evasion. Advertisement
In court  documents, prosecutors argued  for a six-year prison sentence, calling Smirnov a "liar and tax  evader" who "betrayed the United States." Prosecutors said his baseless corruption allegations against  Biden were "among the most serious  types of election interference  imaginable" because they  disrupted the 2020 and 2024 election  cycles.
Smirnov's lawyers  had asked for a four-year prison  sentence. In court  documents, they said he  had no criminal record,  suffered from severe glaucoma in both  eyes and  that his "remorse was sincere." They submitted letters from  relatives praising Smirnov as a "deeply patriotic and proud American" who "did everything for  his friends and family" and "always stood  up for justice."
Born in the Soviet Union, Smirnov and his family immigrated to Israel as a  child and later moved to the United States. He became a naturalized citizen and a  valuable informant for the FBI. But  prosecutors say he later  began expressing bias  against Biden and  fabricated the Ukraine  corruption narrative to  damage Biden's 2020 campaign against  Trump. The Justice Department secretly  investigated Smirnov's allegations in 2020, but nothing came of  them. Three years later,  as the 2024  campaign approached, Republicans  in Congress brought  Smirnov's unproven allegations to national attention and  promoted his record as an FBI informant.  His claims quickly went viral in the right-wing media  ecosystem. Amid this GOP scrutiny,  Weiss's team re-interviewed Smirnov in 2023 to  verify his  statements while also  investigating Hunter Biden. But Weiss concluded  that Smirnov  "lied" and "should be prosecuted himself" for  continuing to deceive the FBI, prosecutors said in  court filings. Weiss sued Hunter Biden on tax  fraud and  weapons charges. He was convicted by a jury last year of three  firearms-related felonies and later pleaded guilty to nine federal tax  crimes. President Biden granted his son an unconditional pardon in December, before  he was convicted in  both cases.

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