smirnov

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MERRI OK

don jr money laundering?!

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DAVID CORN 3 26

For a year, the Trump Justice Department has been on an odd mission: to assist a mysterious former FBI informant with ties to Russian intelligence who ended up in prison for passing disinformation about Joe Biden to the bureau. His crime deeply affected American politics. The false claim he slipped to the FBI—that Biden and his son Hunter each were paid a $5 million bribe by a Ukrainian energy company—became the main evidence in the House Republicans’ reckless and ill-fated impeachment drive against the 46th president.

For pushing this phony tale, Alexander Smirnov, who pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI, was sentenced a year ago to six years of incarceration. (The punishment also covered failing to pay taxes on more than $2 million in income.) But for some strange reason, Trump’s DOJ has been helping him to get out of prison. On March 4, in a move that has drawn no media attention, the department quietly filed an unusual brief—submitted by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche—supporting Smirnov’s attempt to throw out his sentence and withdraw his guilty plea.

The Smirnov saga has the feel of a spy thriller.

This was not the first time the Trump Justice Department sided with Smirnov in his ongoing legal battle. It has forged a curious alliance with this convicted Russia-connected fabricator whose lies were embraced by Trump, MAGA Republicans, and right-wing media and cited as smoking-gun evidence for Biden’s impeachment.

The Smirnov saga has the feel of a spy thriller. A fortysomething Israeli American businessman who grew up in Ukraine, he was a longtime confidential informant for the FBI. Court filings do not reveal the details of his work for the bureau, but they note he participated in operations in which he was authorized to engage in illegal activity as part of FBI criminal investigations. He apparently shared information about oligarchs and the business contacts he made around the world, possibly including some shady characters. He made millions of dollars through activity federal prosecutors could not identify.

During the 2020 campaign, Republicans—most notably, Rudy Giuliani—were promoting the debunked allegation that Biden, when he was vice president, had threatened to withhold a $1 billion loan guarantee to Ukraine unless its government quashed an investigation of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company that had recruited his son Hunter to be a well-paid board member. As that conspiracy theory was being hyped by the right, Smirnov told his FBI handler that in late 2015 or 2016 the CEO of Burisma had said to him that Hunter, through his father, could end an investigation of Burisma if the two Bidens each were paid a $5 million bribe.

The FBI handler dutifully recorded Smirnov’s account in what the bureau calls an FD-1023 form. The FBI reviewed this information—which was much at odds with previous statements Smirnov had made to his handler about Burisma—and decided there was nothing to it. (There was no active probe of Burisma at the time of the supposed bribe.) And that was that.

Yet three years later, someone in the FBI passed the FD-1023 to congressional Republicans, and they went to town, claiming this was the proof President Biden had pocketed a huge bribe and was leading a crime family.

The document clearly stated there was no confirmation of the hearsay information Smirnov had provided. But for months, through that summer and fall and into 2024, House Republicans—led by Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who chaired the House oversight committee—hailed the FD-1023 (which redacted Smirnov’s name) as Exhibit A for their baseless impeachment inquiry targeting Biden. Fox News aired scores of segments about it. Kash Patel and other MAGA stalwarts cited it as evidence of Biden criminality.

His new allegations about Hunter Biden were also false. It appeared he had been trying to plant anti-Biden information within the bureau.

With Republicans raising a fuss about this once-confidential report, the FBI brought Smirnov in for questioning. He stuck to his story. He even added new allegations about Hunter Biden that he said he had received from four Russian officials, including two associated with Russian intelligence, telling the bureau the Russians had made incriminating recordings of the president’s son.

The bureau dug into all of this—reviewing Smirnov’s travel records and other information—and concluded that he was lying and that he had never even had those conversations with the Burisma CEO outlined in the FD-1023. His new allegations about the younger Biden were also false. It appeared he had been trying to plant anti-Biden information within the bureau.

On February 14, 2024, as Smirnov arrived from an overseas trip at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, FBI agents arrested him. The next day, David Weiss, a Justice Department special counsel who had been appointed to investigate Hunter Biden, announced that Smirnov had been indicted for making false statements to the FBI. His indictment was later expanded to cover the tax charges. Smirnov’s arrest outed him as the confidential informant cited in the FD-1023—and essentially ended the GOP impeachment crusade. The Republicans had been duped.

In subsequent legal filings, federal prosecutors stated that Smirnov professed to have contacts with multiple foreign intelligence agencies, including the Russian spy services. The feds characterized Smirnov’s interactions with Russians as “extensive.”

“Smirnov’s contacts with Russian officials who are affiliated with Russian intelligence services are not benign,” the prosecutors said—a suggestion that Smirnov had actively been in cahoots with the Russians.

One filing revealed he had numerous contacts with a Russian official “who has been described by Smirnov in a number of ways, including as the son of a former high-ranking Russian government official” and someone “who purportedly controls two groups of individuals tasked with carrying out assassination efforts in a third-party country,” a reference to Ukraine. “Smirnov’s contacts with Russian officials who are affiliated with Russian intelligence services are not benign,” the prosecutors said—a suggestion that Smirnov had actively been in cahoots with the Russians.

The Justice Department’s filings in the case depicted Smirnov as having “spread misinformation” about Biden, adding “the misinformation he is spreading is not confined to 2020. He is actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November [2024].” It looked as if Smirnov had been part of a Russian operation to tarnish Biden in both 2020 and 2024.

On January 8, 2025, after Smirnov accepted a plea agreement, federal Judge Otis Wright of the Central District of California sentenced him to six years. “In committing his crimes he betrayed the United States,” Weiss stated in court papers.

A scamster tied to Russian intelligence who had promoted disinformation to the FBI to harm Biden in two elections was behind bars. A win for the Justice Department. Case closed.

Not quite. Shortly after his conviction, Smirnov requested he be released on bail from prison pending an appeal he had filed. The Justice Department, now tightly controlled by Trump, joined Smirnov in supporting this request. Smirnov and the feds filed a joint stipulation asking he be freed while his appeal was underway.

This was weird. The Justice Department had just locked him up. But with Trump in the White House, it was under new management.

What was different now—and peculiar—was that that the Justice Department had flipped and was supporting the request of a man who had tried to deceive the FBI and who, as Weiss said, betrayed the United States.

During Smirnov’s criminal case, Justice Department lawyers had argued that because he had access to $6 million in funds (the origins of which he hadn’t been able to explain), was an Israeli citizen who could easily obtain an Israeli passport, and claimed to have contacts with multiple foreign intelligence services, he was a flight risk. They requested he be kept in prison prior to his trial. Smirnov’s lawyers contended at that time that he ought to be released on bail because he had a serious medical condition related to his eyes that required continuing care. The court didn’t buy that and imprisoned him while he awaited trial.

Following his conviction, Smirnov made the same argument: Due to his eye condition, he should be let out on bail while his appeal proceeded. What was different now—and peculiar—was that that the Justice Department had flipped and was supporting the request of a man who had tried to deceive the FBI and who, as Weiss said, betrayed the United States.

The government had once said Smirnov was a flight risk; now it argued the opposite. During a hearing last April, a department prosecutor pointed out that Smirnov had “the lowest incentive that he would ever have to flee the country…when he has a receptive ear to people who are willing to look anew” at his case. A “receptive ear”? That was a surprising statement, indicating that the Trump Justice Department was considering reviewing the case of this suspected Russian agent. The Trump administration was advocating for him.

On April 30, 2025, Judge Wright turned down the joint Smirnov–United States request for his release, noting that nothing significant had changed since Smirnov was determined a flight risk and “the fact remains that Smirnov has been convicted and sentenced to seventy-two months in prison, providing ample incentive to flee.”

That was not the end of the Trump Justice Department’s cooperation with Smirnov. And the former informant did catch a break after losing the fight for bail.

In November, independent journalist Jacqueline Sweet discovered that Smirnov had been released from FCI Terminal Island, a low-security prison in Los Angeles, where he had been fulfilling his sentence. A process server who had been trying to serve Smirnov with papers related to a civil lawsuit had been informed that Smirnov was “furloughed.” David Chesnoff, Smirnov’s lawyer, told the New York Post that his client had been released on a “medical furlough” due to his eye condition, which required surgery. A health-related furlough from a federal facility can last up to 30 months. Chesnoff said at the time he expected to request multiple furloughs for Smirnov.

With Chesnoff, Smirnov had a high-powered and widely connected lawyer who was part of the Trump administration. A well-known celebrity attorney based in Las Vegas, he was appointed in June to serve on an advisory council for the Department of Homeland Security.

Several years ago, Chesnoff represented Republican political operative Corey Lewandowski, when Lewandowski was accused of harassing and inappropriately touching a Trump donor at a fundraising event. Chesnoff obtained a plea agreement in which Lewandowski admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to impulse control counseling and 50 hours of community service. When Chesnoff was named to the DHS council, Lewandowski was serving as the chief adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Other members of this advisory board include Giuliani, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, right-wing commentator Mark Levin, Bikers for Trump founder Chris Cox, and Lewandowski.

It’s unclear how long Smirnov was out of prison for the medical furlough. Chesnoff did not respond to an inquiry. On Friday, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons confirmed Smirnov was currently in custody at Terminal Island.

This month, the Justice Department continued to go all-out for Smirnov. On March 4, with no fanfare, it submitted a filing supporting Smirnov’s appeal of his conviction.

Smirnov had agreed to a plea deal in which he acknowledged lying to the FBI and committing tax evasion. But following his conviction, he filed an appeal that hinged on a technical point. He claimed Judge Wright had not stuck to the deal’s provision regarding a reduction in Smirnov’s sentence to match his pretrial detention.

The Trump administration appears to be bending over backward to help him escape his sentence and win another trial—or perhaps avoid one.

The plea agreement between the Justice Department and Smirnov stated that Smirnov was “entitled” to a credit for time served. But at sentencing, Judge Wright said he would not “get involved” in the calculation of the credit and would leave that to the Bureau of Prisons.

In the appeal, Smirnov’s lawyers argued that even though Smirnov ended up being credited by BOP with time served, Wright, by not directly recommending the time off to BOP, had not adhered to the plea agreement. Consequently, they contended, the sentence should be revoked and Smirnov permitted to withdraw his guilty pleas and return the case to the pre-agreement stage. The Justice Department filing supports Smirnov’s argument and his requests.

The Trump administration appears to be bending over backward to help him escape his sentence and win another trial—or perhaps avoid one. There’s no guarantee the Justice Department would continue the prosecution if Smirnov succeeds with his appeal. One government official who has followed this case tells me he wonders if the ultimate plan of the Trump administration is to let Smirnov go free.

Judge Wright has challenged this argument advanced by Smirnov and the DOJ. In a ruling last year, he said that Smirnov’s claim that he had not followed “all of the stipulations” of the plea agreement was “factually and legally incorrect.” Wright cited the exact language of the agreement: “The parties also agree that the defendant is entitled to credit…for the period of his pretrial detention…and that credits that the Bureau of Prisons may allow…may be credited against this stipulated sentence.”

Wright pointed out the agreement did not “provide that the Court would order that Smirnov receive credit for time served…This provision regarding credit requires nothing of the Court.”

Smirnov’s case does not seem a strong one, turning on the question of whether the provision that he was “entitled” to credit for time served compelled Wright to make an explicit recommendation to the BOP. It certainly doesn’t come across as a matter that would call for the participation of the deputy attorney general. Yet Blanche signed this filing. Deputy attorneys general usually don’t get involved in such matters.

I asked the Justice Department why it decided to back Smirnov’s appeal. A spokesperson replied, “We have no comment.” I also asked if the DOJ would renew its prosecution of Smirnov if he wins his appeal. I received the same response.

Trump’s Justice Department has shown an unusual amount of consideration for Smirnov, a confessed criminal tied to Russian intelligence who betrayed the FBI and who perpetuated a fraud that roiled American politics. But he did make trouble for Biden and the Democrats. This case warrants scrutiny as Smirnov’s appeal proceeds.

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DUCK 326

- Mother Jones

https://www.motherjones.com › politics › 2026 › 03 › donald-trump-doj-justice-alexander-smirnov-russia-ukraine-burisma-fbi

Trump's DOJ Is Helping a Convicted FBI Informant Tied to Russian ...

1 day agoTrump's DOJ Is Helping a Convicted FBI Informant Tied to Russian Intelligence Alexander Smirnov's lies about Joe Biden were at the core of the GOP's impeachment drive.

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Stanislav_Smirnov

Stanislav Smirnov - Wikipedia

Stanislav Smirnov is a Russian mathematician who won the Fields Medal in 2010 for his work on percolation and the Ising model. He is a professor at the University of Geneva and the founding director of the Chebyshev Laboratory in Saint Petersburg State University.

Raw Story

https://www.rawstory.com › alexander-smirnov-2676218011

Trump admin 'bending over backward' to free Russian spy: insider

1 day agoPresident Donald Trump's administration is reportedly seeking to free a former FBI informant who admitted he lied to federal agents during the 2020 presidential election, an insider has claimed ...

The New Republic

https://newrepublic.com › post › 202897 › fbi-informant-alexander-smirnov-lied-biden-released-jail

FBI Informant Who Lied About the Bidens Covertly Released From Jail

Nov 7, 2025Alexander Smirnov, the ex-FBI informant who admitted to lying about the Biden-Burisma connection, has been released from prison just months into his six-year prison sentence. In a plea deal in ...

Britannica

https://www.britannica.com › biography › Stanislav-Smirnov

Stanislav Smirnov | Biography & Work in Mathematical Physics - Britannica

Stanislav Smirnov is a Russian mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 2010 for his work in mathematical physics. Smirnov graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1992 from St. Petersburg State University in St. Petersburg, Russia.

AP News

https://apnews.com › article › hunter-biden-fbi-informant-alexander-smirnov-434165aaea90a82e4c24566a1d2b78d5

Alexander Smirnov agrees to plea deal | AP News

A former FBI informant accused of fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden's family has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges.

Yahoo

https://www.yahoo.com › news › ex-fbi-informant-made-bribery-231750204.html

Ex-FBI informant who made up bribery story about the Bidens ... - Yahoo

Apr 30, 2025Smirnov, 44, was sentenced in January after pleading guilty to tax evasion and lying to the FBI about the phony bribery scheme, which was described by the previous prosecutors assigned to the case ...

CNN

https://www.cnn.com › 2025 › 04 › 10 › politics › alexander-smirnov-doj-review

Alexander Smirnov: DOJ to review conviction of ex-FBI informant ... - CNN

Apr 11, 2025The Justice Department will review its case against a former FBI informant who was convicted of lying about the Biden family's ties to Ukraine, prosecutors said in a court filing Thursday.

NPR

https://www.npr.org › 2024 › 02 › 16 › 1232089792 › biden-impeachment-inquiry-alexander-smirnov

Who is Alexander Smirnov? How is he tied to the Biden impeachment ... - NPR

Feb 16, 2024Alexander Smirnov has been accused of making false statements to the FBI — claims that House Republicans have used in their probe of President Biden.

Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com › politics › fbi-informant-who-lied-about-bidens-ties-ukrainian-energy-company-high-level-russian-contacts-doj

FBI informant who lied about the Bidens' ties to Ukrainian energy ...

Feb 21, 2024A former FBI informant charged with lying about a bribery scheme involving a Ukrainian company and the Bidens had high-level contacts with Russian officials, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Generate answer for SMIRNOV

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wiki

On February 15, 2024, the FBI arrested and charged Alexander Smirnov, who was the central^[14][15] figure in bribery allegations against Biden, for lying to investigators and fabricating an uncorroborated^[14] story to damage Biden's reelection campaign, and that "officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved" in manufacturing the story.^{[14][16][17][18}] In December 2024, Smirnov plead guilty.

...In October 2022, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley began asking the FBI for information about a source he believed they had interviewed in 2020. Grassley had heard that the source had claimed to have spoken to a Ukrainian oligarch who claimed to have bribed Joe Biden. On May 3, 2023, Republicans subpoenaed the Justice Department for a copy of the form on which the informational tip had been documented.^[69] The Justice Department replied that the form "establish[es] little beyond the fact that a confidential human source provided information and the FBI recorded it", warned them that the allegation might not be true and that many interviewees provide unreliable information to the FBI, and reminded them that it is normal "for law enforcement agencies to decline to confirm or deny" potential evidence in ongoing investigations.^[70] Grassley obtained the FBI form and posted it to his website, claiming he was pressuring the FBI to further investigate the claim and be transparent with the public.^[69]

On February 15, 2024, the DOJ announced that Alexander Smirnov, the informant in question, was being charged with making a false statement and creating a false record.^[71] In a February 20 court filing, prosecutors said Smirnov had admitted that Russian intelligence officials had passed a story about Hunter Biden to him.^[72] That same day, House Republicans sent two copies of an interview request letter to former State Department official Amos Hochstein, the first with a paragraph citing Smirnov's allegations as the basis for their investigation, followed by a revised version without that paragraph.^[73] Though Smirnov had been released on bond, on February 22, he was taken into custody.^[74]

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7 25

Alexander Smirnov (born 1980)^[1] is an Israeli-American former informant^[2] who was charged with, and eventually pleaded guilty to, lying to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and creating false records regarding the Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory.^[3]

Early life

Smirnov was born into a Russian-speaking family in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, present-day Ukraine. His family moved to Israel in 1992. By 2010, he was living in the United States in Minnesota. Smirnov lived in California for 16 years and then moved to Las Vegas for two years where he stayed at a luxury condo near the Las Vegas Strip.^[4] During this time, he lived with his long-term girlfriend.^[5]

Career

According to the Los Angeles Times, Smirnov became an FBI informant around 2010.^[6] During this time, he travelled throughout Europe and also provided information to other American intelligence organizations as well as Israeli intelligence.^[2] During the 2020 United States presidential election, he reported to the FBI that officials at Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma had told him that they offered Hunter Biden a seat on their board to protect them. He also stated that the executives told him they paid Hunter Biden and Joe Biden $5 million each.^[7] In 2024, he admitted he lied to the FBI about the Biden payments and pled guilty to lying to the FBI.^[8]

Early legal issues

American Express sued Smirnov in 2013 after he failed to repay $100,000 of credit card debt. He borrowed $500,000 from Encino-based firm D&D Marketing and was sued in 2015 when he did not repay the loan.^[9] He was also sued in 2016 when two men claimed that he had sold them fake stock certificates.^[9]

Arrest

On February 14, 2024, Smirnov was returning to the US from abroad. He was arrested by FBI agents at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.^[10] Smirnov is a dual US-Israeli citizen and had both an Israeli passport and a U.S. passport; both were seized by the FBI.^[11][12] On February 15, Smirnov was charged with lying to the FBI.^[3] Smirnov faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.^[10] On February 20, a United States magistrate judge in Smirnov's home state of Nevada ordered him released with a GPS monitor.^{[13][14][15][16}] However, a federal judge in California had him re-arrested on February 24, on the grounds that his release would be "likely to facilitate his absconding from the United States."^[17][6]

In 2020, Smirnov was paid $600,000 by Economic Transformation Technologies (ETT), prosecutors said. That same year, Smirnov began lying to the FBI about the Bidens, according to the indictment. Two of ETT's three owners, Shahal M. Khan and Farooq Arjomand, along with their associate DAMAC Properties chairman Hussain Sajwani are friends of or have done business with Donald Trump.^[18]

Prosecutors claim that Smirnov did not disclose to authorities that he and his significant other had access to more than $6 million.^[4]

Conviction

In December 2024, Smirnov pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI and was sentenced to six years in prison the next month.^[19][20]

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an 3 24

The credibility of House Republicans' "star witness" against President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, suffered a major blow when he was arrested for allegedly lying to the FBI and reports showed that he was getting information from Russian intelligence.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) and countless right-wing media pundits touted Smirnov as the person who could prove that President Biden was involved in a bribery scheme involving the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. But Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland — the Oversight Committee's leading Democrat — told ABC News, "I think the Smirnov revelations destroy the entire case. Smirnov was the foundation of the whole thing. He was the one who came forward to say that Burisma had given Joe Biden $5 million, and that was just concocted in thin air."

Smirnov's history continues to draw scrutiny.

According to a report published by The Guardian on March 14, business filings and court documents show that Smirnov is "connected to a UK company owned by (Donald) Trump business associates in Dubai."

The Guardian's Jacqueline Sweet explains, "Smirnov's accounts to the FBI, beginning in 2020, that federal prosecutors now say are impossible fabrications, served as a major justification of the House impeachment investigation into the Bidens….. Back in 2020, Smirnov was paid $600,000 by a company called Educational Transformation Technologies (ETT), prosecutors said. That same year, Smirnov began lying to the FBI about the Bidens, according to his indictment."

According to Sweet, ETT's shareholders include CEO Christopher Condon, an American, as well as "Pakistani-American investor Shah Khan and Farooq Arjomand, a former chairman and current board member of Damac Properties in Dubai." UAE

"Condon, Arjomand and Khan registered ETT Investment Holding Limited in the UK on 6 March 2020," Sweet reports. "Khan, an investor who purchased the Plaza Hotel in 2018, and Arjomand have ties to Donald Trump through Trump associates and Damac, a major Middle East developer that has partnered with Trump for a decade."

Sweet continues, "Arjomand, Khan and Condon owned 34, 33 and 33 percent of ETT Investment Holding Limited respectively, according to UK business filings…. Former Damac Chairman Hussain Sajwani is also close to Trump and has been described as his friend in multiple news reports. Trump has called the billionaire a 'friend' and a 'great man,' and his family 'the most beautiful people.' Sajwani attended Trump’s 2016 inauguration, and Trump's sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump attended the 2017 ribbon-cutting of Trump International golf club in Dubai, licensed by Damac in 2014."

*Read The Guardian's full report at this link.

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an 2 24

when House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer's (R-KY) star witness, ex-FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, was arrested last week for allegedly lying about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, the party's impeachment inquiry began to fall apart. Then when reports came earlier this week that Smirnov had connections to Russian intelligence agencies — the party's efforts to oust the president went from bad to worse.

Several lawmakers are declaring the effort — which GOP House members have made their number one priority — officially "dead," according to TIME Magazine.

TIME's Eric Cortellessa reports, still, "Republican leaders insist the Biden inquiry is still very much alive, even with potential evidence that the Kremlin is advancing the effort to influence the 2024 election." He notes, "That’s come with other implications for the federal government. Next week, Congress will return from a two-week recess and have only three working days to pass a budget and avert a partial government shutdown. But House members will still be preoccupied with the Biden probe."

"Honestly, I’m surprised that they have this high a threshold for humiliation," Fox News' Jessica Tarlov said during a Wednesday segment.

"My sense is it’s not going to happen," Cortellessa reports US Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said. "We should determine the next president through the election."

On the other hand, US Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) is positive this latest development has officially killed the GOP's effort. "There's no question this is dead," he said. "To the extent that they continue to push forward with it, they are now doing it with a knowing asset of Russian intelligence. It is one thing to lead an investigation where you fail to find evidence to support unfounded conclusions. It is altogether something else when you are acting as an agent of Vladimir Putin."

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MASSIVE FAIL

224 fbi indict star witness impeach smirnoff, gop no back off russia disinfo

Jim Jordan is in denial about brutal collapse of Biden impeachment 'fiasco': columnist - Alternet.org

'Tale of the tape': These 10 Republicans brazenly touted indicted FBI informant before he was tried - Alternet.org

Informant’s arrest for allegedly lying to FBI could be bad news for Jim Jordan - Alternet.org

Kremlin using GOP in plot to 'tear down' Biden is 'scandal of historic proportions’: Miller - Alternet.org

Special Counsel David Weiss’ allegation that a former FBI informant was fed anti-Biden propaganda from the Kremlin and laundered it to congressional Republicans who then used it to launch an impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden is a “scandal of historic proportions” says former Republican political strategist Tim Miller.

Reminding MSNBC viewers that the bombshell news is really a story about election interference, Alicia Menendez on Wednesday’s “Deadline: White House” turned to Miller.

“This is now coming from inside the House of Representatives, inside the Republican conference within the House of Representatives,” said Miller, a former Jeb Bush communications director who now writes for The Bulwark.

Calling it “an unprecedented and really historic kind of moment,” Miller explained, “what we have here is an impeachment inquiry – we’ve not had that many of those, an impeachment investigation going against the President of the United States, premised on totally false information that allegedly was sourced from Russian intelligence, that was sourced from our foe.”

IFrame Content

The premise of the House Republicans’ impeachment investigation was based on “frankly, kind of preposterous information,” Miller observed, “like this notion that Joe Biden took $5 million and had some web of bank accounts that were, that was so complex that it would take 10 years to unravel, that was one of Smirnov’s claims.”

Alexander Smirnov, Politico reported Tuesday evening, is the “former FBI informant charged with making up a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company.” Smirnov “had contacts with officials affiliated with Russian intelligence, prosecutors said in a court paper Tuesday.”

“Like it’s kind of laughable at the face,” Miller continued, “right, like this notion that the American CIA could not have uncovered this but that [Republican U.S. Reps.] Elise Stefanik and Byron Donalds could. you know, it was a preposterous accusation.”

Miller blasted “Republicans in the House” for pushing “this false information about the sitting president, and become tools in a foreign power, in a foe’s effort to interfere in our elections, to tear down the sitting President of the United States, to prop up his rival, and it is you know … this is a scandal of historic proportions.”

“I’d just like to put it in context: It’s akin to, you know, imagine if during the Cold War in the 80s, the Soviets had trumped up some fake information about Ronald Reagan being on the take and [Democratic Speaker] Tip O’Neill and the Democratic House had opened up an inquiry and investigation into it, that would be something that would be echoing and, you know, it would be talked about in conservative media 40, 50 years later. And so the fact that this is happening now, that there’s one party that is complicit in this, I don’t think the significance can be understated.”

Watch below or at this link (segment starts at 14:25).

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mjr cheerleader on biden impeach

Sean Hannity is the GOP’s impeachment hype man, Tony Bobulinski edition | Media Matters for America

===

gop and dems call for invest of comer?!

don jr says it’s deep state

mma 2 24

CHRIS HAYES (HOST): In his show, Fox host Sean Hannity alone promoted the claim of the single FBI informant no less than 85 times last year, 28 of those segments were monologues, very long monologues, in addition to all the breathless so-called reporting. And this was across all the right-wing media. Hannity had House Oversight Committee Chairman and chief Biden crime family investigator James Comer on as a guest 43 times in 2023. Today, James Comer and Sean Hannity's favorite informant, the smoking gun for their investigation, was arrested at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. He was indicted on two counts of feeding the FBI false information about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

...

The New York Post, also owned by Rupert Murdoch, like Fox, "Biden: $10 million bribe file, Burisma chief said he was coerced to pay Joe, 'stupid' Hunter in bombshell allegations. Joe Biden allegedly paid $5 million by Burisma executive as part of a bribery scheme, according to FBI document." Now, here's where it gets interesting. That FBI document was that this confidential informant wrote a form, making his bribery allegation, in fact, it's part of what he's being indicted for, since it was a fabrication.

But then, in this kind of alleyoop play, right? The Republicans on the Hill know this document exists and they shake it loose to the public. This is Chuck Grassley in July of 2023, "For the better part of a year I've been pushing the Justice Department, FBI, to provide details on its handling very significant allegations from a trusted FBI informant, implicating then Vice President Biden in a criminal bribery scheme." So they know about it, they brow beat the DOJ to shake it loose, as if they're covering up, and now it turns out the man's being indicted for fabricating it.

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an 2 24

one name that has been heard a lot in right-wing media outlets is Tony Bobulinski, an investor who House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) and other Republicans have been touting as their greatest weapon against Hunter Biden.

Bobulinski, according to many MAGA Republicans, will be the downfall of Hunter Biden and, by extension, his father, President Joe Biden.

But in an article published on February 13, Daily Beast reporters William Bredderman and Roger Sollenberger lay out some reasons why Bobulinski's "ties" make him a problematic witness.

:{":{As Republicans examine Hunter Biden's questionable business ties," the journalists explain, "it turns out Bobulinski is connected to one particular character perhaps more unsavory than any other figure in the inquiry's constellation: Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg…. a Ukrainian-born energy magnate who's been a close ally of Vladimir Putin for decades.}:"

Bredderman and Sollenberger note that in 2017, Vekselberg "reportedly funneled $500,000 to an LLC run by Donald Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, supposedly with the intention of influencing the new administration to let Russia illegally occupy parts of Eastern Ukraine."

"U.S. law enforcement has placed sanctions on Vekselberg multiple times, citing Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election, Moscow's aggression against Ukraine, and the oligarch's ties to Putin," the Daily Beast journalists explain. "Vekselberg tried to evade those sanctions with the help of an American attorney. But Republicans are trying to look past Bobulinski's ties to Vekselberg, as they paint Hunter Biden — dishonestly and without actual evidence — as a corrupt figure facilitating payments to his father."

Read the Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).}}:

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an 2 24

an argument that has been showing up in right-wing media outlets is that if the courts keep ruling against former President Donald Trump, it will set off a "cycle of retribution" in which Republicans pursue frivolous legal attacks on Democrats.

University of Texas legal scholars Steve Vladeck and Lee Kovarsky examine this claim in an op-ed published by MSNBC's website on February 7, slamming it as "flawed" and disingenuous.

"The upshot of this argument is that, if he's not immunized from criminal prosecution in Washington for his role in the January 6 insurrection and Georgia for his attempt to interfere in the state's election results, then sham prosecutions await every president," Vladeck and Kovarsky note. "And if courts allow Colorado to disqualify Trump from the presidential ballot, then disqualification will become the norm even for candidates whose behavior comes nowhere close to having participated in an insurrection or a rebellion covered by the 14th Amendment's text."

The legal scholars continue, "'If it can happen to Trump,' the argument goes, 'it can happen to anyone.'"

But Vladeck and Kovarsky lay out some reasons why these "cycle-of-retribution" arguments are "asking the courts to bury their heads in the sand."

"Slippery-slope arguments of the type that the D.C. Circuit rejected have three major problems," the University of Texas scholars explain. "First, they necessarily conflate the legal response to Trump's unique malfeasance with more conventional partisan disputes over, for instance, immigration or national security policy…. Second, the Trump-aligned argument ignores many mechanisms that constrain bad-faith prosecution and disqualification."

Vladeck and Kovarsky add that "the third, most important point" is that "if prosecutors and state election officials are inclined to indict or disqualify in bad faith, then courts having pumped the brakes on the Trump cases won't stop them."

"The reason is simple enough: Immunizing Trump from criminal prosecution and preventing his ballot disqualification would hardly arrest our political polarization," according to the University of Texas law professors. "And so long as demagogic political leaders describe opponents as 'enemies' and demand extravagant legal responses to vague, unspecified charges of wrongdoing, it won't matter how courts approach the Trump cases. There's little room for nuance when the watchword is grievance."

*Read the full MSNBC op-ed at this link.

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Fox anchor Harris Faulkner suggests DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas might have engaged in treason | Media Matters for America

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an 2 24

Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) blasted his GOP colleagues for their unwavering devotion to Donald Trump while ignoring their critical national security oversight responsibilities, during the House Republicans’ Homeland Security Committee’s hearing on impeaching DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday.

“We have held zero – I repeat – zero full committee hearings dedicated to emergency preparedness, cyber threat, infrastructure protection, transportation security, Department of Homeland Security management or information sharing and intelligence efforts,” Congressman Menendez declared. “With the global dynamic that we have, we have not lived up to our oversight obligation here on this committee because you all are obsessed with the border, because you bend the knee to the ‘Orange Jesus,’ as you refer to him across the aisle.”

“That’s what this is about,” the freshman congressman shouted angrily. “And we have failed, failed, our jurisdiction on this committee, so I’m tired of being lectured. You know, I try to listen here. I try to be a team player. I really do. I try not to engage in the partisanship, but I’ve had it. I’ve listened to a lot of accusations here today. We are here on a sham impeachment hearing, because the partnership of this committee, and enough is enough. Ms. Green asked the American people, the American people are listening. They are and they’re tired of the partisanship of this Republican majority that has failed to get things done.”

The GOP-led hearing lasted past midnight, and resulted in an 18-15 party line vote to advance the highly-controversial articles of impeachment against Mayorkas. A full House vote is expected next week. If successful, Mayorkas would be the first presidential cabinet member to be impeached in nearly 140 years.

Watch below or at this link.

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last cab imp 150 yrs ago

'No high crime': GOP slammed for 'completely made up accusations' on Mayorkas impeachment - Alternet.org

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rww --> Tori Otten @ The New Republic: New Transcript Blows Up James Comer’s Entire Hunter Biden Argument.

A new transcript from a key Hunter Biden witness undercuts many of the claims Republicans are making about “Biden corruption.”

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'Parade of embarrassments': House Republicans privately turn on Comer for impeachment dud - Alternet.org

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an 3 23

an auditor responsible for overseeing Trump Media's books is ducking calls seeking comment on a pair of loans totaling $8 million that have fallen under investigation as possible money laundering.

Top executives at Donald Trump's social media raised concerns about the loans from Paxum Bank and ES Family Trust, which both are linked to an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, and it remains unclear whether the SEC-licensed broker-dealer who sourced the loans or auditor BF Borders completed any due diligence under anti-money laundering and “Know Your Customer” requirements, reported The Guardian. guk

"A person who picked up the phone at BF Borgers this week put a reporter seeking comment on hold until the line disconnected," the newspaper's Hugo Lowell reported. "On a subsequent call, the person said they would pass the request on to managing partner Ben Borgers."

The payments came as Trump Media, which owns the Trump Social platform, was running out of money in December 2021 and February 2022 as its planned merger with the blank check company DWAC was halted by an SEC investigation, and top executives at the fledgling tech company were so concerned about the origins of the loans they considered returning the money.

However, according to Trump Media co-founder turned whistleblower Will Wilkerson, chief financial officer Phillip Juhan ultimately decided not to return the money because giving up $8 million of the roughly $12 million of cash they had on hand would have put the company in a precarious position.

DWAC chief executive Patrick Orlando sourced the first loan, $2 million from Paxum Bank, just before Christmas 2021 and later charged a $240,000 finder’s fee to Trump Media, and he declined to provide requested information about the lender to company executives who voiced concerns.

Donald Trump Jr., who had taken a more actively role in the company since that summer, personally signed off guk? on the loan Christmas Eve 2021 in a communication sent to outside counsel, but Juhan raised concerns again about the sources of the loans on March 8, 2022.

"Our auditors require confirmation statements signed by all noteholders," Juhan wrote in an email reviewed by The Guardian. "We don’t have a contact for ES Family Trust other than the name of Angel Pacheco (Trustee). Can you provide contact info (email) so that our auditor (BF Borgers) can email this confirmation? Thanks!"

its unclear whether any further information or a signed version of the loan agreement were ever passed on to Juhan or the auditor, and the CFO and Orlando also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

Trump Media under investigation for Russian money laundering: report

Donald Trump Jr. and Donald Trump (Shutterstock)

Travis Gettys

and

Raw Story

March 15, 2023 |

IFrame Content

Federal prosecutors are investigating Donald Trump's social media company for possible money laundering involving Russians.

Trump Media, which owns the Truth Social platform, first came under investigation by federal authorities in New York over its potential merger with the blank-check company Digital World, and prosecutors started looking at two loans totaling $8 million wired through the Caribbean to Trump Media from two Kremlin-linked entities, reported The Guardian.

The first $2 million payment came when Trump Media was on the brink of collapse in December 2021, when the merger was delayed by a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry, but Digital World's chief executive Patrick Orlando got the loan wired from Paxum Bank registered in Dominica, according to financial records obtained by the newspaper.

"The wire transfer identified Paxum Bank as the beneficial owner, although the promissory note identified an entity called ES Family Trust as the lender," The Guardian reported. "Two months later, an unexpected second $6 million payment arrived in Trump Media’s account from ES Family Trust, the transfer receipt showed."

Orlando declined each time to provide details about the true identity of the lenders or the origin of the money, according to Trump Media co-founder-turned-whistleblower Will Wilkerson, and an individual named Angel Pacheco appears to have simultaneously been a trustee of ES Family Trust and a director of Paxum Bank.

IFrame Content

"The Russian connection, as being examined by prosecutors in the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York, centers on a part-owner of Paxum Bank – an individual named Anton Postolnikov, who appears to be a relation of Putin ally Aleksandr Smirnov," The Guardian reported.

Smirnov, who oversees the Russian maritime company Rosmorport, served in the Central Office of the Russian government until 2017 and was previously first deputy minister of justice of Russia until 2014, and he served in the executive office of the president for most of Vladimir Putin's first two terms.

A spokesman for the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York declined to comment on the investigation, as did outside counsel for Trump Media and representatives for Rosmorport and Paxum Bank.

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NYT

...Mr. Postolnikov is the nephew of Aleksandr Smirnov, who served as a high-ranking Russian government official for almost 15 years. As of two years ago, he was the deputy head of a state-owned enterprise governing seaports.

A statement published on Mr. Postolnikov’s behalf last year denied that he was connected in any way to allies of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and said Russian websites were spreading lies about him. Mr. Postolnikov drew scrutiny in an insider-trading investigation by federal prosecutors who looked into trading of Digital World securities around the time of the merger announcement in 2021, according to a filing in connection with the matter. He was not charged with any wrongdoing and his lawyer declined to comment.

...

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loan money launder? jr

https://www.alternet.org/trump-jr-2659601326/

no lnx

Donald Trump Jr. personally approved sketchy loan now being probed as Russian money laundering

Travis Gettys and Raw Story March 15, 2023

A pair of sketchy loans to Trump Media now under investigation for possible Russian money laundering were personally approved by Donald Trump Jr.

Federal prosecutors in New York are scrutinizing two loans totaling $8 million from two Kremlin-linked entities, and company officials set aside their own concerns about the origins of the money because Donald Trump's eldest son had confirmed to Trump Media's lawyers that the transaction should proceed, reported The Guardian.

“Just want to keep you in the loop — no guaranty that these will get signed and funded, but we remain hopeful,” wrote John Haley, outside counsel for Trump Media, in a Dec. 24, 2021, email reviewed by the newspaper.

“Thanks john much appreciated. d,” Trump Jr. replied.

Trump Jr. had joined the board of the company along with the former president's ally Kash Patel and former Rep. Devin Nunes, who served as the tech company's chief executive.

Trump Media co-founder Will Wilkerson first alerted federal prosecutors on Oct. 23, 2022, to the loans, which came from Paxum Bank and ES Family Trust, both of which were controlled by an individual named Anton Postolnikov, who appears to be a relation of Vladimir Putin ally Aleksandr Smirnov.

Wilkerson and Trump Media’s then-chief financial officer Phillip Juhan considered returning the money in spring 2022 due to their obscure origins but the company had only $12 million cash at hand at the time as it awaited approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a merger with the blank-check company Digital World.

Digital World's chief executive Patrick Orlando sourced the loan from Paxum Bank, which is known for providing services to the adult entertainment industry, in December 2021, and two months later an unexpected second $6 million payment showed up in Trump Media’s account from ES Family Trust.

Orlando, as an SEC-licensed broker-dealer, is obligated to comply with the SEC's “Know Your Customer” requirements to guard money laundering.

The former president was chairman of Trump Media at the time, but it's not clear whether he was aware of the origins of the loans, Wilkerson said, adding that he was not typically interested in managing day-to-day operations of the company bearing his name.

However, Trump was interested in the deal because he would receive 90 percent of the shares without putting any of his own money into the venture, although one source familiar with the matter said the ex-president did invest some money into Digital World, which would have allowed him to cash out twice if the merger went through.

smirnov

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Trump Media under investigation for Russian money laundering: report