You might expect such dramatic developments to derail impeachment. It would betray a touching belief that truth matters first. Republicans, who once dismissed the whistleblower’s claims, are rejecting them and insisting that impeachment proceed based on other suspicions and speculations, although Republicans’ two-seat majority in the House of Representatives would block any vote. Sure to be doomed, given the misunderstandings of some members.
This is not to minimize Russian efforts to undermine democracy. Special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election, found it to be “widespread and systematic”. But politicians from both parties have shown that they can manage on their own when it comes to plotting and spreading disinformation. Republican members of the House are the best in this matter. The most shocking facts are coming out of the shadows not because of congressional investigations, but out into the open because of congressional stupidity, even with House Republicans voting to tighten the Senate’s bipartisan compromise. has also been refused. Border security and aid Ukraine and Israel, with the threat of yet another exhausting government shutdown due to their inability to agree among themselves on budget priorities.
The story of the whistleblower, or misinformer, has the familiar, miasmic qualities of other scandals of the Trump era. It’s not said anyone urinated on anyone, but the story involves fiery characters, double dealings in European capitals, affectionate messages with FBI agents, investigative scrutiny, ties to Ukraine and, ultimately, benefits to Russia.
Before being arrested in mid-February, Alexander Smirnov, a dual citizen of the US and Israel, had been hiding information from the FBI for 13 years. According to the indictment, the agency trusted him so much that it authorized him to commit crimes as part of the investigation, although it warned him not to lie, at least not to the FBI. Mr. Smirnov, now 43, was in contact with his handler almost daily; He called the agent “brother”.
According to the Los Angeles Times, in 2013 Mr. Smirnov was struggling with credit-card debt of $125,000, but prosecutors say he now has access to $6 million, although he does not own a home or at least one in the U.S. job no. Prosecutors say he has nine guns at the home. He has pleaded not guilty.
Here comes the tricky part. Do you remember the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, whose board Mr Biden’s son Hunter joined when his father was vice president? In 2017 Mr. Smirnov told his handlers that Hunter Biden was on the board, as it was known. Then, in 2020, when Mr. Biden was running against Donald Trump for president, according to the indictment, Mr. Smirnov sent messages to his handler “expressing bias” against Mr. Biden. When he promised information that would incriminate Biden, Handler responded, “That would be a game changer.”
Meanwhile, in early 2020, the attorney-general under Mr Trump instructed Scott Brady, a US lawyer, to investigate suspicions of corruption in the Biden family, which Mr Trump had previously demanded Ukraine open an investigation into. Begin, leading to Mr. Trump’s first impeachment. When Mr. Brady tasked the FBI with searching his files for “Burisma,” a reference to 2017 surfaced and the handler contacted Mr. Smirnov. This time Mr. Smirnov said that Burisma’s chief executive had told him in 2015 that the company had paid bribes. $5 million each to Biden’s people The FBI filed the new allegations on “Form 1023.”
In 2023, Republican congressmen became aware of this form and demanded that it be released and made public, after threatening the FBI Director with contempt. Although this information was unconfirmed, South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace declared at the first impeachment hearing in September that “We already know that the President took bribes from Burisma.” Jim Jordan of Ohio called the FBI document “the most corroborating evidence we have.” “, while Elise Stefanik of New York observed “the biggest political corruption scandal of the last 100 years”.
an imperfect detective
According to the indictment, Mr. Smirnov’s claims did not withstand even the slightest scrutiny. The indictment states that he had not met any Burisma officials before 2017, and that the meetings and calls he described never occurred. According to the indictment, when agents met with him in September, Mr. Smirnov changed his story and told new lies. He said that when Hunter Biden stayed at the Premier Palace Hotel in Kiev, his call may have been recorded by Russian intelligence. Yet Mr. Biden has never even been to Ukraine. Prosecutors warned that Mr. Smirnov was actively spreading new lies that could influence the US elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November. He has successfully argued that he is a flight risk and should be detained until trial.
None of the Republicans who publicized Mr. Smirnov’s allegations have expressed regret, and the leader of the impeachment committee, James Comer, insists his investigation, which has yet to produce evidence of wrongdoing by the president, is one of those But “not dependent”. Rest assured knowing that, by and large, Mr. Putin is responsible for all this nonsense. What is more likely is that they offered help capable of ruining the chance for politicians to do something good while already in office.
Read more from our Lexington columnist on American politics:
The flaws that China’s leading thinker saw in America (22 February)
Donald Trump’s tremendous love (16 February)
This isn’t a story about Taylor Swift and the Super Bowl (8 February)
Also: How is the Lexington Column got its name
