Fogbow

US firm that paid indicted FBI informant tied to Trump associates, records reveal
Alexander Smirnov was paid $600,000 in 2020 – the same year he allegedly began lying to FBI about Bidens’ role in Ukraine business

Jacqueline Sweet
Thu 14 Mar 2024 11.00 CET

An American company that paid the now indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov in 2020 is connected to a UK company owned by Trump business associates in Dubai, according to business filings and court documents.

Smirnov is now accused of lying to the FBI about Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden, alleging that they engaged in a bribery scheme with executives at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Smirnov’s accounts to the FBI, beginning in 2020, that federal prosecutors now say are fabrications, served as a major justification of the House impeachment investigation into the Bidens.

Republican lawmakers have repeatedly touted Smirnov as a reliable informant, and the chairman of the House oversight committee, James Comer, even threatened to hold FBI director Christopher Wray in contempt unless he “handed over” a June 2020 FBI form with Smirnov’s claims to the committee.

Back in 2020, Smirnov was paid $600,000 by a company called Economic Transformation Technologies (ETT), prosecutors said. That same year, Smirnov began lying to the FBI about the Bidens, according to the indictment.



many details explained https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... onnections

Ex-FBI informant accused of lying about Bidens was called a "fraudster" in a prior case

By Daniel Klaidman, Scott MacFarlane, Jessica Kegu
Updated on: March 15, 2024 / 8:22 AM EDT / CBS News

Federal prosecutors were put on notice as far back as 2016 that Alexander Smirnov, the confidential FBI informant whose alleged lies about President Biden's business dealings fueled — and then damaged — a Republican impeachment effort, was a known "liar and a fraudster."

Smirnov, 43, was indicted last month for allegedly fabricating a story about President Biden and his son Hunter each accepting $5 million bribes from a Ukrainian energy company. It was a shocking turn of events, especially given that Smirnov's explosive allegations had been a key piece of the GOP's impeachment quest against Mr. Biden — and that Republican lawmakers had touted him as a highly credible witness.

A CBS News investigation reveals that serious doubts about Smirnov's credibility were raised almost a decade ago and are now prompting questions about why he remained on the FBI payroll as long as he did. CBS News has identified an earlier criminal case in which Smirnov provided information to the FBI that led to a prosecution. And in that earlier case, Smirnov was also accused of lying, just as he was about the corruption allegations against the Bidens.

"Having seen how much he lies, it's kind of surprising that he has been able to do it for as long as he has without anyone in the government stopping him," said Joseph Benincasa, a defense lawyer in that case. "They never should have used him again … it's shocking."

The FBI declined through a spokesperson to comment for this report.



https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alexander- ... rior-case/

RTH10260 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:50 pm

What the heck happened?

Five weeks and no, not a single one (1), post about the shenigans of Hunter Bidens laptop

Hunter Biden is demanding that Fox News remove from its platforms sexually explicit images that President Joe Biden’s son says are private, according to a letter obtained by CNN, as part of his strategy to publicly fight back against conservative media.

The letter sent by attorneys for Hunter Biden to Fox News and FOX Corp. alleges conspiracy to defame and unlawful publication of “hacked” images, seeking corrections and retractions on air and in online articles to claims that President Biden and his son engaged in a bribery scheme abroad.

Hunter Biden’s legal team has undertaken an aggressive legal and public relations strategy for several months. His lawyers have fired off letters demanding investigations into Hunter Biden’s opponents and filed a series of lawsuits against his detractors. Hunter Biden’s lawyers say they “anticipate” suing Fox but have not yet done so.

Hunter Biden is demanding that Fox News remove from its platforms sexually explicit images that President Joe Biden’s son says are private, according to a letter obtained by CNN, as part of his strategy to publicly fight back against conservative media.

The letter sent by attorneys for Hunter Biden to Fox News and FOX Corp. alleges conspiracy to defame and unlawful publication of “hacked” images, seeking corrections and retractions on air and in online articles to claims that President Biden and his son engaged in a bribery scheme abroad.

Hunter Biden’s legal team has undertaken an aggressive legal and public relations strategy for several months. His lawyers have fired off letters demanding investigations into Hunter Biden’s opponents and filed a series of lawsuits against his detractors. Hunter Biden’s lawyers say they “anticipate” suing Fox but have not yet done so.

Lawyers for Hunter Biden plan to sue Fox News “imminently,” according to a letter sent to the network and obtained by NBC News.

The letter, dated April 23, puts the Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital on notice for litigation claims arising from the network’s alleged “conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.”

Biden has hired attorney Mark Geragos and his firm to represent him in the Fox litigation efforts. The letter is the second outreach to Fox this month. An earlier letter was hand-delivered to Fox’s counsel two weeks ago, and the network asked for more time to respond, according to a source familiar with Biden’s legal efforts. The network has not yet responded to the letter sent April 23, which included a Friday evening, April 26, deadline to respond, according to Geragos. The letter is signed by Tina Glandian, a partner at Geragos & Geragos working on the case.

Rothmus 🏴 @Rothmus wrote: Afroman releasing “Hunter Got High” was not on my 2024 Bingo card.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers have belatedly chosen to publicly attack Fox News’ constitutionally protected coverage regarding their client. Mr. Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of investigations by both the Department of Justice and Congress, has been indicted by two different US Attorney’s Offices in California and Delaware, and has admitted to multiple incidents of wrongdoing. Consistent with the First Amendment, Fox News has accurately covered these highly publicized events as well as the subsequent indictment of an FBI informant who was the source of certain claims made about Mr. Biden.

MN-Skeptic wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 1:04 pm Per Mediaite, Fox News’ reply -

Hunter Biden’s lawyers have belatedly chosen to publicly attack Fox News’ constitutionally protected coverage regarding their client. Mr. Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of investigations by both the Department of Justice and Congress, has been indicted by two different US Attorney’s Offices in California and Delaware, and has admitted to multiple incidents of wrongdoing. Consistent with the First Amendment, Fox News has accurately covered these highly publicized events as well as the subsequent indictment of an FBI informant who was the source of certain claims made about Mr. Biden.

bob wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 1:43 pm
There's no constitutional right to lie about even public figures.

noblepa wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 3:14 pm

bob wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 1:43 pm
There's no constitutional right to lie about even public figures.

In the case of public figures, doesn't the "actual malice" standard come into play? IOW, for a public figure to successfully sue, say a cable news outlet, they must prove that the statements were not only false, but that the network KNEW they were false (not just that the did an inadequate job of verifying the statements) and broadcast them anyway, for the express purpose of harming the reputation of the subject of the statements.

Fox News on Tuesday removed a six-part Hunter Biden miniseries from its streaming platform, after his attorneys threatened to sue the right-wing network over the incendiary and at-times sexually explicit program about his legal troubles.

The removal is a swift response from the conservative media juggernaut, whose spokespeople were defending the material as recently as Tuesday morning.

“This program was produced in and has been available since 2022,” a Fox News Media spokesperson said in a statement. “We are reviewing the concerns that have just been raised and – out of an abundance of caution in the interim – have taken it down.”

The program, titled “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” was an offering on the Fox Nation digital streaming network. It was also promoted on Fox News, the cable TV channel.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the link on the Fox Nation site for the six-episode series was not working. Episodes that were available before the lawsuit threat are no longer accessible.

The dispute primarily revolves around sexually explicit images of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, with women that were shown on-screen during the program, which featured a “mock trial” about his overseas financial dealings that led in part to his federal tax indictment and has also fueled House Republicans’ struggling impeachment inquiry into his father.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, and a trial in California is scheduled to begin in late June.

His lawyers accused Fox of defamation and of “unlawful publication of hacked intimate images” that could violate “revenge porn” laws.

Fox denied wrongdoing, saying in a statement Tuesday morning that its coverage was accurate and “consistent with the First Amendment.”