• The FBI recently indicted the informant whose specious claims formed the heart of the GOP’s bribery allegations against the Bidens on felony false statement and obstruction charges. The informant, Alexander Smirnov, was previously a confidential FBI informant whose unverified claims have been used to push for an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. [ABC News, 2/15/24]
• Alexander Smirnov told the FBI that Burisma executives had discussed paying Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden $5 million bribes in exchange for legal protection. Smirnov’s story had changed over time to make the bribery scheme more involved, and the FBI ultimately did not believe Smirnov’s claims. [CNN, 2/22/24]
• Following his arrest, Smirnov told investigators that Russian intelligence officers fed him information about Hunter Biden. He alleged that his Russian contacts intended to use blackmail to impact the 2024 election, “depending on who the candidates will be.” [CNN, 2/20/24]

• Right-wing media repeatedly described Smirnov as a credible source. Again and again, Fox News hosts and guests presented Smirnov’s unconfirmed claims as fact and pushed for investigations into the Biden family. The unverified Smirnov allegations fit perfectly into Fox's yearslong effort to smear President Biden and his family with allegations of corruption. [Media Matters, 2/16/24]
• House Oversight Committee chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) hyped Smirnov as “a trusted, highly credible informant.” In a press release, Comer announced that he would “initiate contempt of Congress proceedings” against the FBI for refusing to hand over a document containing Smirnov’s accusations against the Bidens. [House Oversight Committee, 6/5/23]
• House Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) called Smirnov’s claim “the heart of” the impeachment effort against Biden. Jordan also told Fox News in January that “the most corroborating evidence we have is the 1023 form from this highly credible confidential human source.” [NBC News, 2/16/24; HuffPost, 2/15/24]
• House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO): “Smoking gun: The D-1023 form showing proof that Joe and Hunter Biden were involved in the $5,000,000 bribery scheme with a Burisma executive has been released by Senator Chuck Grassley.” [Twitter/X, 7/20/23]
• Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) cited Smirnov’s bribery claim during a House debate about whether to authorize the Biden impeachment inquiry. “We know that somebody in the FBI decided not to investigate bribery allegations against Hunter Biden and Joe Biden provided by a confidential informant,” he said. “That source is so important and the FBI has deemed him so credible that they oppose the release of the report and only agreed to a review in a classified setting.” [Congress.gov, 12/13/23]
• Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the No. 4 Republican in the House, repeatedly cited Smirnov’s bribery claim. During an appearance on Fox & Friends last June, Stefanik reportedly said Smirnov’s allegations pointed to “the biggest political corruption scandal, not only in my lifetime, but I would say the past 100 years.” A month earlier, she also cited the claim in a social media post, writing: “As Vice President Joe Biden sold his influence to the highest bidder.” She later cited the claim in an Instagram post touting the House GOP’s investigation of the Bidens. [NBC News, 2/16/24; Twitter/X, 5/4/23; Instagram, 9/13/23]
• Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said Biden was “100% guilty” of bribery after viewing an FBI document containing Smirnov’s allegations. [NBC News, 2/16/24]

Sean Hannity

Then

• Fox News host Sean Hannity promoted Smirnov’s claim in 85 segments. Of those 85 segments, 28 were Hannity monologues. [Media Matters, 2/13/24]

Now

• Hannity: “Alexander Smirnov was not to be trusted” but that “doesn't negate any part of the Biden family syndicate.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 2/16/24]
• Hannity: Smirnov’s claims were a “very damning, but a very, very small part of what is the large body of evidence in the Biden impeachment inquiry.” [Fox News, Hannity, 2/16/24]
• Hannity: “One liar does not exonerate the [Biden] family.” [Fox News, Hannity, 2/22/24]

Rudy Giuliani

Then

• On his radio show, Giuliani described Smirnov as a “reliable informant.” Giuliani claimed this was one of multiple bribes paid to Joe Biden, saying, “[Burisma owner Mykola] Zlochevsky is a singular bribery case. The FBI reliable informant described it: $5 million offered to Joe, $5 million offered to Hunter.” [WABC, The Rudy Giuliani Show, 12/19/23]
• Giuliani appeared to recently refer to Smirnov’s claims as fact just one day before the informant’s arrest, citing a “$10 million” bribe from Ukraine. Giuliani added: “That’s what you can generally prosecute cases on, testimony like that.” [WABC, The Rudy Giuliani Show, 2/14/24]

Now

• Giuliani: “Smirnov is a distraction” and “doesn’t mean a damn thing.” Giuliani added, “Whether he’s telling the truth or he isn’t, who really gives a damn?” [America’s Mayor Live, 2/22/24, streamed on YouTube]

John Solomon / Just the News

Then

• Former Fox contributor John Solomon promoted Smirnov’s accusations on Hannity’s radio show and again built up Smirnov’s credibility by calling him a “trusted informant.” Asked about his “bribery scandal allegation” against Joe Biden, Solomon told Hannity, “Well, it also matches what the FBI received from its trusted informant in a 1023 informant report in June of 2020.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 9/6/23] 
• Solomon repeatedly presented the FBI informant as credible during an interview of Comer and in articles on his website. Solomon said during the interview, “The allegations were first brought by this informant in ‘17 and then again in 2020, so there’s a consistency over multiple years.” In an article published the same day on Just the News, Solomon described the informant as “a reliable and well-paid informant,” and claimed that he “was deemed so credible and valuable that he was paid $200,000 by the bureau over several years.” In yet another article, Solomon described the source as “a validated and well-paid informant.” [Just the News, 6/6/23, 6/6/23, 6/6/23]

Now

• Solomon’s Just the News: “Attempts to discredit impeachment inquiry overlook concrete evidence.” An article published on Solomon-founded Just the News downplayed the role of Smirnov in the GOP impeachment effort against Biden: “Congressional Democrats pounced on the recent charges against a Hunter Biden informant, claiming the source’s questionable reliability calls into question the foundation of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Yet the informant’s information, which the prosecutors allege is false, has little to do with the the concrete evidence assembled by the impeachment inquiry and from independent sources, including by Just the News, that indicate that President Biden likely had knowledge of, participated in, and may have taken official actions based on his son’s business ventures.” [Just the News, 2/21/24]

Jesse Watters

Then

• Fox host Jesse Watters said the FBI was “blackmailing” Biden after “one of the FBI's top informants, a guy with impeccable credentials, a great track record, reported an allegation that Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 6/5/23]

Now

• Watters described Smirnov’s indictment as a “hoax” to “prevent Biden from getting impeached.” Watters argued that claims that the Biden impeachment was “the entire foundation of the Biden family corruption scandal” was ridiculous, adding, “Entire foundation? Only evidence we have? The Biden bribery scandal is four-and-a-half years old and its foundation was based upon eyewitness testimony like Tony Bobulinski, hard evidence like bank records, laptops, photos of meetings, voicemails, visitor logs from the White House; e-mails, texts, cheques, hours of depositions and at least two missing diamonds. We didn't find out about this FBI informant until just last summer, when Comer's investigation was well underway.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 2/22/24]

Laura Ingraham

Then

• Fox host Laura Ingraham promoted Smirnov’s claim and called him a “trusted FBI informant.” Citing Smirnov’s bribery claims, Ingraham argued that the Bidens “wanted to avoid direct payments to Joe Biden. I mean, these people might be stupid in some ways, but they’re not that stupid. I mean, you exercise influence peddling not necessarily by having a direct deposit, as you said. I mean, that's just goofy. No one thinks that. But the idea that you have to prove like a money trail that goes -- that just flies in the case of common sense and how these things work.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 8/10/23]

Now

• Ingraham dismissed Smirnov’s indictment: “I don’t care about Smirnov on the rocks.” “The only product or service that the Biden boys had to sell was influence,” Ingraham said. “There is no misinformation in saying that, there’s no disinformation in saying that. It's common sense. You don't need an FBI informant to conclude that.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 2/21/24]

Jeanine Pirro

Then

• On The Five, Fox host Jeanine Pirro repeatedly cited the FBI form from “this verifiable FBI confidential informant who was paid upwards of $200,000 by the FBI, because they believed in what he said, it was effective in prosecutions.” Pirro claimed that Trump’s Justice Department did not prosecute the Bidens because “the FBI kept this close to their vest.” She continued, “They didn't investigate this, even though Bill Barr was the United States attorney, no one moved on this, which is why they were so willing to say we don't have it, but it's all here. It's everything that you need for a prosecution.” [Fox News, The Five, 7/21/23]

Now

• Pirro dismissed Smirnov’s claims as “just one piece of the pie.” On Hannity, Pirro said Smirnov had been a “respected confidential informant for 10 years by the FBI, they paid him money he was so credible,” before raising questions about the timing of Smirnov’s indictment. “Now all of the sudden a couple of months ago they decide, ‘Oh, he’s not credible,’ because he’s involved in claiming that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were engaged in a problem. But that's just one piece of the pie. There is so much other evidence.” [Fox News, Hannity, 2/22/24]

Ainsley Earhardt

Then

• Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt lamented that other media outlets were ignoring the “Biden bribe allegations.” “If you look at all the networks from June 8 to June 12, they spent 291 minutes on Trump indictment coverage, zero seconds on Biden-Burisma coverage,” she said, before echoing Smirnov’s claims. “Let me tell you why it’s a big deal. The FD-1023 form, which is an FBI form, this confidential human source told the FBI on June 30, 2020, so three years ago, that the vice president, then Biden, was paid $5 million by an executive at Burisma, and Hunter was sitting at the board at the time.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/16/23]

Now

• Earhardt hosted a Republican congressperson to dismiss the centrality of Smirnov’s claims to the House’s Biden probes. On Fox & Friends, Earhardt asked Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), “Do you agree that this ex-FBI informant that was accused of lying and arrested — rearrested — what he said could have tainted this?” Fry responded, “No, I do not. I think there’s so much corroborating evidence.” Earhardt agreed, saying, “Right. I mean, [Hunter Biden] had no experience. What was he doing on the board of Burisma?” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/23/24]