Raskin: Biden impeachment ‘essentially ended’ with Smirnov bombshell
by Mike Lillis - 02/21/24 1:57 PM ET
The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee said Wednesday that the Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Biden has been demolished by new revelations that Russia might have played a role in drumming up false allegations about the president’s finances.
“The impeachment investigation essentially ended yesterday, in substance if not in form, with the explosive revelation that Mr. Smirnov’s allegations about Ukrainian Burisma payments to Joe Biden were concocted along with Russian intelligence agents,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters in Washington.
Republicans have leaned heavily on the declarations of Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant who alleged that Biden and his son, Hunter, both received $5 million in dubious payments from Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company on whose board Hunter Biden sat.
Smirnov was arrested last week and charged with lying to the FBI about those allegations. And on Tuesday the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Smirnov told the agency that “officials associated with Russian intelligence” were involved in devising the false claims.
The news has dealt a blow to Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry, some of whom have characterized Smirnov’s initial allegations of influence peddling as a form of a “smoking gun” in the case against Biden.
Democrats say the development should prompt GOP leaders to end the investigation altogether.
“It appears like the whole thing is not only, obviously, false and fraudulent, but a product of Russian disinformation and propaganda,” Raskin said. “And that’s been the motor force behind this investigation for more than a year.”
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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4481208-raskin-biden-impeachment-essentially-ended-with-smirnov-bombshell/
