Below is my column in the New York Post on the indictment of Alexander Smirnov and the use of the charges by Hunter Biden to seek to dismiss his own charges. That dog won’t hunt.
Here is the column:
The Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff once joked that “in America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, the Party can always find you.”
Alexander Smirnov is no comedian, but he is about to discover the truth of that statement.
Alexander Smirnov is now a defendant in federal court after being charged by special counsel David Weiss for spreading a false story about Hunter Biden receiving $5 million from Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company.
The allegation has produced a stampede of Democrats who view his indictment as a much-needed talking point as the House continues to build the case of influence-peddling by the Biden family.
Some are using the charges to revive a previously debunked story that Hunter Biden’s laptop could be Russian disinformation. But a closer reading of the filing dispels those claims and contradicts a new effort by Hunter Biden to dismiss charges against himself.
The filing itself is actually an argument to keep Smirnov in federal detention.
The government points out Smirnov’s admitted contacts with Russian intelligence officials and previously scheduled meetings with such figures to argue he is a flight risk.
However, there are a couple of aspects to the filing that undermine the claims of a “bombshell” revelation of a Russian disinformation campaign. First, these disclosures were not the result of surveillance or interceptions by American intelligence. Smirnov appears to have been cooperating with the United States and told his US “handler” about all of these contacts.
Second, Smirnov’s contacts were described as “recent” and did not apparently precede 2020. They have nothing to do with the laptop or the evidence of influence-peddling found in emails on that computer. This is solely a claim of a large payment to the Bidens from Burisma.
Third, the Justice Department states that Smirnov had expressed “bias” against Joe Biden and used “his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma” to make the bribery allegations.
So Smirnov operated off a bias against Biden, made an allegation separate from the laptop, and ultimately disclosed his communications to his U.S. handler. He detailed conversations with the “son of a former high-ranking government official” and “someone with ties to a particular Russian intelligence service.” Reports indicate that Smirnov was not only an asset of American intelligence but on the payroll for roughly a decade as a trusted informant.
That does not mean that the Russians were not eager to spread false claims, though it shows again how low-grade such efforts could be. It does not address hundreds of confirmed emails of Hunter Biden cashing in on an array of foreign contacts.
Hunter Biden’s legal team is citing the filing in seeking to cast doubt on all of the allegations and even the pending charges: “It now seems clear that the Smirnov allegations infected this case.”
They insist that the bribe allegation was key to the loss of the plea agreement that they struck with the president’s son. They argued that “having taken Mr. Smirnov’s bait of grand, sensational charges, the Diversion Agreement that had just been entered into and Plea Agreement that was on the verge of being finalized suddenly became inconvenient for the prosecution, and it reversed course and repudiated those Agreements.”
That is not how it happened.
Hunter Biden had received a sweetheart deal so rich as to put most defendants into hyperglycemic shock. Hunter would have avoided any jail time and been given sweeping immunity from future charges.
The reason that the deal fell apart was not any particular allegation of bribes. The alleged bribe was not part of the case. It fell apart because the judge asked a simple question on the meaning of the immunity. The deal immediately imploded as the prosecutor was forced to admit that he had never seen a deal like this for anyone other than Hunter Biden.
In relation to the influence-peddling investigation, this filing does not change the evidence that the Biden family made millions in shaking down foreign companies and business figures.
On Wednesday, Capitol Hill will witness something that many thought would never come. The House is calling a Biden to actually answer questions under oath about influence-peddling. James Biden, brother of the president, will testify on his long history of leveraging the name and influence of his brother. That includes $200,000 given to him by a collapsing hospital chain company, Americore.
Biden reportedly pitched a percentage deal with his brother and immediately turned over the money to Joe Biden to pay off a prior “loan.”
That was not the creation of a “biased” Russian but the Biden family itself. Smirnov was not at the dinners and meetings where Joe Biden called in to chat. He was not the recipient of messages from Hunter threatening that his father was “sitting next to” him and waiting for transfers of money. He was not the source of gifts and expense accounts to cover Hunter’s lavish lifestyle. .
Most importantly, Smirnov was not the reason that Hunter was indicted by the same prosecutor, David Weiss, who just indicted him.
Echoes of Carter Page.
Hunter Biden’s entire Burma salary was a bribe to access Joe Biden’s influence. The end result was Joe Biden, bragging on camera about getting the Ukrainian prosecutor fired as part of a quid pro quo. This just happened to benefit Burisma, which just happened to employ the self-destructive, active drug addict Hunter Biden, as an oil executive without a shred of oil and gas experience. Hunter Biden did not have any experience, skills, or talent to offer. What he did have was Joe Biden.
As long as Democrats control the three letter agencies, there will be no justice.
Ah the wonders of going to fake information that falls into your biased view of the world.
https://www.alternet.org/former-spies-slam-gop/
Bob, I see you are still dissing Turley, calling his information fake. One would think you learned your lesson when, from a similar left-wing piece, you copied a quote that turned out to be wrong. That is what you are doing again.
You continuously lie, knowing you are copying an opinion that has been found more frequently wrong than right, at least where Trump was concerned.
Did you read the transcript that proved you lied? No, but I provided a transcription of what was said in shorter form.
You don’t care that whatever reputation you had for being truthful is totally extinguished. You prove yourself to be an ignorant, lying troll and will carry this error forever.
From December 21, 2020:
Attorney General Barr Sees No Need For Special Counsel Regarding Hunter Biden
Undercutting President Donald Trump on multiple fronts, Attorney General William Barr said Monday he saw no reason to appoint a special counsel to look into the president’s claims about the 2020 election or to name one for the tax investigation of President-elect Joe Biden’s son.
The president has grown particularly angry that Barr didn’t announce the existence of a two-year-old investigation of Hunter Biden before the election. On Monday, Barr said that investigation was “being handled responsibly and professionally.”
“I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave,” he said, adding that there was also no need for a special counsel to investigate the election.
https://apnews.com/article/william-barr-hunter-biden-election-047487650cd50f5a874c406aad214ce7
……………………………………
KEY PASSAGE ABOVE:
“The president has grown particularly angry that Barr didn’t announce the existence of a two-year-old investigation of Hunter Biden before the election”.
***
William Barr’s Justice Department spent 2 years looking at Hunter Biden and didn’t think the case even warranted a Special Counsel. This seems to indicate that Barr’s investigation did not put much stock in Alexander Smirnov’s claims.
How peculiar then that James Comer’s committee resurrected the Hunter Biden case 3 years later.
“This seems to indicate that Barr’s investigation did not put much stock in Alexander Smirnov’s claims.”
You’re lying, yet again.
Barr’s comments (from 2020) were about taxes and the election. He said nothing about the Biden bribery scheme or Smirnov.
William “Mr. Deep Deep State” Barr
William “Benedict Arnold” Barr
William “Comrade General Secretary And Dear Leader” Barr
And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. obama
So now we know what is going on…
This whole thing is BS and meant to give cover to a misinformation campaign by Biden’s Administration.
When Trump wins… and he will win … This should be something cleaned up by the new head of the FBI.
PBS bwahahahahahahah
THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN THE SEMANTICS AND THE WORDING, OF WHAT THE ACCUSATION REALLY SAYS AND WHAT THE MEDIA PROJECTS THAT INFORMATION MEANT TO SAY. (MISSING INFORMATION)
1- Special counsel David Weiss, charges (Not FBI charges ) FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, with two counts lying to the bureau about Hunter and Joe Biden
The case grew out of the special counsel David Weiss, who is also leading the case against Hunter Biden, Who says that misinformation comes from Russia.
On the other side, The FBI reveals that one of its informants, in matters involving Russia, had been an informant for the FBI since 2010, He has been accused of lying for years, without anyone noticing.
Smirnov Was been indicted by Wess on two counts, of feeding the bureau false information about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, allege informant disliked President Joe Biden and for this cause “provided false derogatory information to the FBI” about both Bidens, after Joe Biden became a candidate for president in 2020.
NO ONE HAS REPORTED THIS PART, ONLY THE FEDERALIST — THE JUDGE DENIED HIS REQUEST TO KEEP HIM IN JAIL
2- A federal judge rejected Special Counsel David Weiss’s request that confidential human source Alexander Smirnov remain jailed pending trial on charges that he lied to the FBI.
– Weiss, in his argument for the judge to deny him bail, had warned of the danger of flight that Alexander Smirnov represented since he has access to 6 million dollars in funds (it seems that it was not so bad, that the FBI paid him so much well, in return for his work) since they would allow him to live comfortably abroad for the rest of his life.
– In addition, even if he gave up his American passport, HE IS IRAELI and nothing would prevent him from getting a new Israeli passport with his contacts in foreign intelligence agencies that could help him escape, emphasizing his ties to Russian intelligence. (THIS IS CALLED KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE, PUTING APOLOGY, AND COMPLICE OF PALESTINIAN GENOCIDE)
3- THE TIMELINE CONFIRMS THE INCOMPETENCE OF WEISS IN HANDLING THE INVESTIGATION INTO HUNTER BIDEN
THE ACCUSATION
The charges stem from Smirnov’s alleged lies to the FBI in June of 2020 concerning conversations Smirnov claims he had in 2015-2016 and then again in 2017 with various executives of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
The handler memorialized Smirnov’s reporting in an FD-1023, which Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, later released to the public after whistleblowers suggested the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office had failed to investigate the CHS’s claims.
In indicting Smirnov, Weiss confirmed his office had botched the Hunter Biden investigation by ignoring the FD-1023 for nearly three years — and then only investigating Smirnov’s claims after Grassley made the document public.
Specifically, according to Thursday’s indictment, the FBI did not question Smirnov about his reporting until Sept. 27, 2023.
LOS HECHOS VERDADEROS CRONOLOGICAMENTE
In October 2020, Weiss’s Delaware office received ‘a substantive briefing’ concerning the FD-1023 from the Pittsburgh U.S. attorney’s office.”
Former Attorney General William Barr had tasked Pittsburgh with screening information related to Ukraine, which agents did with the FD-1023.
Among other things, the Pennsylvania-based office obtained travel records of the confidential human source (CHS) and communicated with the CHS’s handler, with the information obtained consistent with Smirnov’s representations in the FD-1023.
In screening the material, the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh, Scott Brady, also vetted the FD-1023 “against known sources of Russian disinformation,” and found no connection.
Accordingly, Pittsburgh closed out its screening process and forwarded the material to Delaware, recommending that Weiss’s team investigate the allegations.
https://thefederalist.com/2024/02/21/david-weisss-latest-motion-shows-by-protecting-the-bidens-he-compromised-national-security/
“LOS HECHOS VERDADEROS CRONOLOGICAMENTE”
What’s the POINT of writing that in Spanish?
America has been annexed by Mexico. Where the —- have you been.
Erratum: “THE TRUE FACTS CHRONOLOGICALLY”
Anonymous: Thanks for the correction! I didn’t even realize it, and I’m not offended for being bilingual!
The truth will remain the truth in English, Spanish, French or Arabic.
I imagine that now you understand why we Latinos voted for Trump! And no, I am not Mexican (classic mistake of the uneducated leftists, starting with Mrs. Biden)
I AM A PUERTO-RICAN AND AN AMERICAN CITIZEN
FBI Informant Alexander Smirnov Tasked With Misinforming
Ryan Goodman, former special counsel for the Department of Defense, tells the News Hour that Smirnov’s entire mission was to spark a divisive event like the impeachment inquiry. Smirnov, by the way, was the source of allegations that Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe. So whatever case Republicans have left is not exactly clear.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/informant-in-gops-biden-investigation-accused-of-lying-and-having-ties-to-russia
FBI Informant Alexander Smirnov Tasked With Misinforming
Thats a lie.
You fail to identify the player(s)
. So whatever case Republicans have left is not exactly clear.
150 Suspicious Activity Reports attached to the Biden Family. (more by multiples than ever, in the history of SAR)
20 shell companies, that receive $millions from foreign entities
$million received, for no discernible service or product.
12 off shore bank accounts. In countries that Bidens have zero business interests.
Smirnov touches none of this activity