Robert Mueller on Russian meddling: ‘They’re doing is as we sit here’
Robert Mueller said Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election was not likely a isolated occurrence of interference and will continue to be.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — When former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov claimed President Joe Biden and his son Hunter took $5 million bribes from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, House Republicans deemed it a key piece of evidence against President Joe Biden in their ongoing impeachment investigation. Then Smirnov was indicted by a federal grand jury last month for lying to the FBI about the allegations just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
So the House GOP quietly scrubbed a reference to Smirnov’s alleged smear of Biden from their impeachment website.
But federal authorities also revealed that Smirnov, arrested Feb. 14 at a Las Vegas airport, got the false claim from his contacts in the upper echelons of Russian intelligence.
Now, some House Democrats tell USA TODAY that the DOJ needs to investigate what leading Republican impeachment advocates like Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. James Comer of Kentucky knew about Smirnov’s false claims – and when they knew it – to determine whether they have been implicated in an ongoing Kremlin propaganda campaign.
Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-N.Y., a former federal prosecutor, said Smirnov’s ties to Russian intelligence are especially concerning because they appear to be part of a Kremlin election-meddling operation that dates back to 2016, when efforts to smear Hillary Clinton by hacking her and her staff’s emails helped Vladimir Putin’s favored candidate, Donald Trump in his campaign to win the White House.
“I think it is imperative that given all of the different efforts that are confirmed by Russia to interfere in our election in 2016, our election in 2020 and now apparently our election in 2024 that the FBI needs to determine whether and to what extent members of Congress or the Senate knew about Russia’s effort to meddle in our election for the benefit of Donald Trump,” said Goldman, who also served as lead counsel in the first impeachment of former President Trump.
Federal investigators have concluded that Smirnov’s effort “to spread misinformation about a candidate of one of the two major parties in the United States continues … (and) is not confined to 2020,” according to a Feb. 20 Justice Department detention memo, in which they argued successfully for keeping Smirnov in custody before trial.
“He is actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November,” federal prosecutors wrote. “In light of that fact there is a serious risk he will flee in order to avoid accountability for his actions.”
In the detention memo, prosecutors describe numerous occasions in recent months where Smirnov told his FBI handler about meetings with high-ranking Russian intelligence officials. In one instance, he related how Russian intelligence officials “intercepted several calls placed by prominent US persons the Russian government may use as ‘kompromat’ in the 2024 election, depending on who the candidates will be.” It did not provide any details, but kompromat is information used to blackmail a target.
‘Like filing a police report’
Both Goldman and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in interviews that the Republicans were warned last fall that the information provided by Smirnov in an FBI interview form known as an FD-1023 hadn’t been vetted.
“We were told specifically by the FBI that there’s no way they can vouch for the veracity of the allegations contained in a 1023, and that these are just unverified allegations that are written down by an FBI agent,” Raskin told USA TODAY, citing a briefing lawmakers received.
“It’s like filing a police report. Anybody can go in and make any kind of allegations want, and then you need to go and check them out,” Raskin said. “And…
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