A federal informant accused of lying to the FBI may have contributed to the controversial Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
Alexander Smirnov, 43, is accused of fabricating a story he told the FBI about a $10 million bribe to Joe Biden and his son Hunter by a Ukrainian oligarch. He has pleaded not guilty.
As details emerge about the ten-year FBI informant, astute intelligence analysts have noticed an intriguing similarity between Smirnov and an unnamed FBI source cited in a government report on Crossfire Hurricane, the Bureau’s previous investigation into the FBI’s ties Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign with Russia. intelligence agents.
The similarities raise the prospect that Smirnov may have been a source for both the investigation into possible corruption by the Biden family, as well as a counterintelligence investigation linked to Trump — making it all the more embarrassing for the FBI if it turns out he was a fantasist, or worse, a Russian double agent, as prosecutors suggest.
Alexander Smirnoff has never been photographed publicly without his face covered. The sketch of a court artist shows his close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair, thick beard and glasses
A report on a counterintelligence investigation linked to Donald Trump suggests that Smirnov may also have been a source for the investigation
Smirnov pleaded not guilty Monday in a federal court in LA to masterminding a $10 million bribery scheme involving Joe and Hunter Biden
Former Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told DailyMail.com that Congress and the Justice Department’s inspector general should investigate Smirnov’s possible ties to Crossfire Hurricane — and find out why his bribery claims went uninvestigated for three years stayed.
‘The timing of all this is very suspicious. For years the Justice Department does nothing, and then suddenly he is arrested. It begs the question: what other things did he consider?’ said the former Republican House member, now a member of the transparency think tank the Government Accountability Institute.
Smirnov made his claims about the meeting with Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky in 2016
“I think Congress should look into it, as should the inspector general.”
Smirnov, a longtime paid informant, passed information to his contact in March 2017 about the allegedly corrupt Ukrainian gas company Burisma, mentioning Hunter Biden’s position on the company’s board.
In 2020, then-Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney Scott Brady investigated claims of a foreign influence scheme involving the Bidens. He saw the handler’s 2017 report that mentioned Hunter and asked to interview Smirnov again.
It was then that Smirnov made his claims about the 2016 meeting with Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky, saying Zlochevsky bragged about bribing the Bidens to close a criminal investigation into his company.
A report by the Justice Department Inspector General on Crossfire Hurricane also describes a March 2017 interview with a longtime FBI informant, which discussed issues related to Ukraine and foreign influence campaigns.
The informant is not named in the report and DailyMail.com has not been able to confirm whether it is Smirnov.
But the report, published in December 2019, said the anonymous informant “regularly provides ‘a lot of information about all kinds of things’ to the FBI” — just like Smirnov.
This included information provided in March 2017, the same month as Smirnov’s meeting with his Seattle-based FBI handler, according to Bureau documents released by Congress.
That informant’s information was “provided to the Crossfire Hurricane team for review,” the DoJ IG report said.
Smirnov left a Vegas courtroom last week flanked by his cousin Linor Shefer, 38, and his girlfriend’s son, Nikolay Lavrenyuk, 39. All three tried to hide their faces from cameras.
Crossfire Hurricane investigators had been monitoring Trump campaign officials’ alleged ties to Russian intelligence operatives and corrupt dealings in Ukraine, a subject on which Smirnov is likely to have been able to provide intelligence.
Prosecutors say Smirnov had “high-level contacts with Russian intelligence agents” – including the chief of a Kremlin assassination squad. His lawyers say these contacts were all made at the request of the US government.
Seamus Bruner, vice president of research at the Government Accountability Institute, told DailyMail.com: ‘The Smirnov fiasco adds to mounting evidence that the FBI has been played several times in recent years by individuals with ties to Moscow.
“The FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation tried unsuccessfully to prove that Trump colluded with Russia. Instead, it proved that the FBI was easily misled by Moscow-linked agents, apparently on multiple occasions.”
The 2019 inspector general report assessed whether Crossfire Hurricane operatives’ orders to wiretap political staffers like Carter Page were unlawfully obtained.
Although heavily redacted, the report appears to say that the FBI manager obtained documents from the unnamed informant and passed them on to a “Crossfire Hurricane Intelligence Analyst.”
However, the analyst told their team that there was “nothing significant” in the information provided.
This unnamed informant was described as “a Trump supporter” with “some political meandering.”
Smirnov has also been accused by prosecutors of bias against Biden and Trump, which they say has distorted his reports.
The IG report added that top FBI officials were not aware of the informant before the 2016 presidential election.
Smirnov faces up to 25 years behind bars for posing as an informant and feeding officials an allegedly false story about the president and his son in 2020
“No one involved in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, including (then FBI Senior Agent Peter) Strzok, (then Assistant Director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division Edward) Priestap and (then FBI Director James) Comey, knew of this CHS (confidential human source). ) during the campaign,” the DoJ IG wrote.
“Priestap told the OIG that he ‘didn’t know it was happening,’ and that, as AD of the Counterintelligence Division, he ‘absolutely’ should have been told that there was an active FBI CHS with access to (redacted).”
Former top prosecutor Brady told Congress in October that Smirnov — whose identity was then under wraps — “had been used in multiple investigative cases, including during the Obama administration,” a timeline that would overlap with the Crossfire investigation.
“The FBI has said they already had a relationship with this source, and had been used in multiple investigative cases, including during the Obama administration. Are you aware of those public statements from the FBI?’ Congressional investigators asked Brady in his Oct. 23 interview with the House Judiciary Committee.
“I’m not aware of that, but that’s consistent with what I understand,” he replied.
“The FBI has also said they reviewed the information (Smirnov) provided and found it, quote, to be highly credible. Have you seen those public statements?’ the researcher asked.
“I didn’t do that, but that’s consistent with what I understand,” Brady replied.
Former chief prosecutor Scott Brady told Congress in October that Smirnov — whose identity was then under wraps — “had been used in multiple investigative matters, including during the Obama administration,” a timeline that would overlap with the Crossfire investigation.
Kashyap Patel, a former National Security Council official and top aide to the House Intelligence Committee in 2017 and 2018, told DailyMail.com that he wouldn’t be surprised if taxpayer dollars were wasted on an untruthful informant — citing Christopher Steele, a key informant for Crossfire whose information was later debunked.
“The FBI has been using its source network to cover up corruption for years, using taxpayer dollars,” he said.
“Christopher Steel and Smirnov were both called the most trusted assets in FBI history by Bureau Directors Comey and Wray, respectively. And now it turns out they’re both criminals.
“I think there needs to be a whole overhaul of the way they use resources, and these are just more examples of it.”