A former FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, faces charges of providing false statements regarding an alleged bribery scheme involving a Ukrainian company and President Joe Biden, as well as his son Hunter.

The Justice Department alleges that Smirnov lied about the Bidens accepting payments from the energy firm Burisma. According to the charges, his false statements were motivated by a personal dislike for President Biden. These claims had been utilized by Republicans in their ongoing efforts to impeach President Biden.

Hunter Biden, who has consistently denied the accusations, is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee later this month to address the allegations.

Alexander Smirnov was apprehended in Las Vegas on Thursday upon returning from an overseas trip, facing charges of making false statements and fabricating a false record, as per the Justice Department. Special Counsel David Weiss, overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation, outlined in a 37-page indictment that Smirnov provided “false derogatory information” to the FBI about President Joe Biden and his son in June 2020.

This information was presented after Joe Biden secured the Democratic presidential candidacy for the 2020 election, and Smirnov had displayed bias against the former vice president. Congressional Republicans had relied on Smirnov’s allegations in their impeachment inquiry into President Biden over the past year. Then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the inquiry, citing “a trusted FBI informant [who] has alleged a bribe to the Biden family.”

Republicans later successfully pressured the FBI to disclose their memos regarding Mr. Smirnov’s claims. During that period, senior congressional Republicans admitted the allegation’s lack of verification and the absence of evidence indicating that Joe Biden had received payments from Ukraine.

Initially, Smirnov had asserted that Burisma officials claimed they hired Hunter Biden, the president’s son, in meetings from 2015 to 2016, to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems.” At that time, Joe Biden held the position of vice president under Barack Obama, and his son Hunter served on Burisma’s board. Concurrently, Burisma was the subject of a criminal investigation led by the then-Ukrainian prosecutor general.

Mr. Smirnov alleged that the company had paid $5 million each to Joe Biden and his son, asserting that Hunter would address the company’s legal troubles “through his dad.” However, prosecutors revealed that, in reality, Smirnov had only interacted with Burisma officials in 2017, after Joe Biden had concluded his vice-presidential term, and after the Ukrainian Prosecutor General had been dismissed in February 2016.

The indictment emphasized that during this period, Joe Biden had no influence on US policy, and the Prosecutor General was no longer in office. Prosecutors contended that Smirnov “converted his ordinary business contact with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations against Joe Biden” after expressing bias against the president and his candidacy.

Upon subsequent questioning by FBI agents in 2023, Smirnov allegedly altered aspects of his narrative and introduced new allegations, asserting that he had met with Russian officials.