Ohio congressman Jim Jordan could face major repercussions over the Republican attempt to impeach Joe Biden after a former FBI informant charged with making false bribery claims against the president was accused of using Russian intelligence, legal experts suggest.
Alexander Smirnov, 43, is accused of making a false statement to the FBI and creating a false and fictitious record in relation to claims that the president and his son, Hunter Biden, were paid $5 million each in bribes from Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.
In court filings on Tuesday, the Department of Justice said that Smirnov admitted during interviews that he had met with "officials associated with Russian intelligence" who were "involved in passing a story" about Hunter Biden.
The highly disputed claims that Biden financially benefited from his son's foreign business dealings while he was vice president, including accusations of taking bribes, have been cited by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jordan and other Republican figures in their impeachment proceedings.
The allegations have been denied by the White House and Hunter Biden's lawyers, with Democrats long criticizing the GOP for failing to find any meaningful evidence to back up their claims against the president.
A number of legal experts and Democratic figures have now suggested Jordan and other Republicans could face consequences if it is found Russian intelligence was the source of the alleged false bribery claims they said justified the impeachment of Biden.
Jordan's office has been contacted for comment via email.
Tristan Snell, a lawyer and former assistant attorney general for New York state, claimed on X, formerly Twitter: "Jim Jordan, Chuck Grassley, and James Comer were either duped by Smirnov and the Kremlin—or they were in on it.
"Either way, DOJ must subpoena every single communication Jordan, Grassley, and Comer had with or about Smirnov and anything related."
Chris D. Jackson, a Democratic election commissioner in Tennessee, posted: "When the Democrats take back the House, they need to censure James Comer and Jim Jordan, and remove them from their committees."
Marcy Wheeler, a national security journalist who uses the online pseudonym Emptywheel, added: "The detention report that Smirnov is spooked up means that Comer and Jordan were easy dupes of Russian spies.
"Sorry. Did I say Comer and Jordan were easy dupes for Russian spies? I meant the entire impeachment effort."
Brian Allen, a pre-law student at Purdue University, wrote: "The Department of Justice should subpoena and probe whether Jordan was either deceived by Russian intelligence or involved in a conspiracy to oust President Biden."
Speaking to reporters in December ahead of a House vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry, Jordan said that the "impeachable offense is—I think, the key thing is in Burisma."
Maryland rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, had previously called on the GOP to drop their impeachment case against Biden following news of Smirnov's indictment for allegedly lying about the bribery claim.
"It is an undeniable fact that Republicans' allegations against President Biden have always been a tissue of lies built on conspiracy theories, and I formally call on Speaker [Mike] Johnson, Chairman Comer, and House Republicans to stop promoting this nonsense and end their doomed impeachment inquiry," Raskin said.
The court filings about Smirnov's apparent dealings with Russian intelligence officials were submitted as the government tried to argue he should remain in custody following his arrest on February 14 at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Prosecutors argued against his release, claiming that Smirnov, a dual US-Israeli citizen, does have contacts with Russian intelligence agencies and that he is "actively peddling new lies" that could impact the results of the U.S. elections after meeting with the Russian intelligence officials last November.
"Smirnov's contacts with Russian officials who are affiliated with Russian intelligence services are not benign," prosecutors wrote.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts allowed Smirnov to be freed from custody on Tuesday with pre-trial conditions, including that he must remain in Nevada's Clark County and that he must not try to apply for a new Israeli passport after volunteering to hand his current one over to authorities.
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
