alexander smirnov faces criminal charges accused of fabricating stories about president biden, makingrs are now criminally prosecuting their own federal informant for doing so. 0ur cbs news review found the feds were warned that alexander smirnov back in 2016 when a defence lawyer in a different federal case accused him of spinning tales and telling lies. he made the argument that alexander smirnov has already been damaged goods as an fbi informant years before he told a story which republicans have hooked onto to defend this impeachment inquiry the president which so far has yielded nothing. have we had any reaction from mr biden? the president's team has already asked for an end to this inquiry and in fact in a new letter submitted they asked for it to be done with because nothing is coming of it. no specific comment to our findings, nor did the fbi, smirnov�*s representative said he stands by his years of service to the department ofjustice. he is a defendant of federal prosecutors in california. thanks forjoining us. let's ta ke let's take you live to vienna where the us secretary

guest: so where the russian disinformation comes in is with this informant, alexander smirnov who wassted and knighted he was arrested and indicted for lying to the fbi about this attack, that joe biden -- this fact, that joe biden took $5 million from this company. he told the fbi that he was lying and it was part of russian disinformation so that part specifically is what we are talking about. and the reason why it is a big deal is big piece of corroborating evidence that jim jordan said, that they had for this impeachment investigation. so it mes to why republicans are trying to impeach the president. these claims are just not true and we know that specifically because what we learned about alexander smirnov in the past host: let's talk to jamie in garden city, missouri, good morning. i want to ask about why are you doing this? who is paying you? because the link to the big guy. there was one billion-dollar that was given to fire the prosecutor in ukraine, we all know that. january 6, there was over 200 thugs seated in the crowd. if people were going to take over that government, t

this old driver's license photo was our first look at alexander smirnov, the shadowy figure who developedstanding relationship with the fbi as a confidential human source. >> even a trusted fbi informant has alleged a bribe to the biden family. >> reporter: smirnov told the fbi president biden and his son hunter took millions from a ukrainian energy company. his claims were made public and championed by the president's critics, leading to an impeachment inquiry. >> i trust the whistle-blower. >> reporter: until the justice department charged smirnov last month with making up the story, undermining the impeachment effort. and what did you make of when the fbi charged alexander smirnov with telling lies? >> i thought, if you want an informant who is going to lie for a criminal conviction, they got the right guy. >> reporter: criminal defense attorney joseph benincasa warned the fbi in a sentencing memo when smirnov was a key secret witness in a case against his clients. you write, "the continental human source was known to the united states as a liar and a fraudster." you think it was known

guest: so where the russian disinformation comes in is with this informant, alexander smirnov who wast arrested and knighted he was arrested and indicted for lying to the fbi this attack, that joe biden -- this fact, that joehe told the fbi that he was lying and it was part of russian disinformation so that part specifically is what we are talking about. and the reason why it is a is this is a big piece of corroborating evidence that jim jordan said, that they had for this impeachment investigation. so it comes to why republicans are trying to impeach the president. these claims are just not true and we know that specifically because what we learned about alexander smirnov in the past host: let's talk to morning. caller: good morning. i want to ask about why are you doing this? who is paying you? the evidence doesn't link to the big guy. there was one billion-dollar that was given to fire the prosecutor in ukraine, we all know that. january 6, there was over 200 thugs seated in the crowd. if people were going to take over that government, they had no guns, no weapons. yoknow iand you

that's alex alexander smirnov, whom you referred to before? so we're kind of in this situation where the republicans are not able to produce any evidence of impeachable conduct. and the evidence that they have is suspect to say the least all right. congressman, i >> appreciate your time. thank you so much. >> thank you >> next, the texas governor tonight ordering police to arrest migrants for criminal trespass yet you're going to hear in a moment from a migrant here in the united states who says he would back trump if he could. and he'll tell you why an oprah winfrey speaking right now to gayle king and charles barkley about her weight loss. we will have the first preview from their interview coming up doug hello, ghostbusters >> it's duck of doggedly moon. we help people customize and save hundreds on car insurance so pretty neutral. >> anyway, we got to be the situation here sure. >> only pay for what you need those plus >> suppose an empire in theaters march 20 the rise >> sanders winter blue sale is now on for limited time visit sandoz.com

that's alex alexander smirnov, whom you referred to before? and so we're kind of in this situation where the republicans are not able to produce any evidence of impeachable conduct. and the evidence that they have is suspect to say the least all right. congressman, i appreciate your time. thank you so much. >> thank you >> next, the texas governor tonight ordering police to arrest migrants for criminal trespass. yet you're going to hear in a moment from a migrant here in the united states he says he would back trump if he could and he'll tell you why an oprah winfrey speaking right now to gayle king and charles barkley about her weight loss. we will have the first preview from their interview coming up seven astronauts setting off on a scientific mission, columbia, houston check. >> i didn't know anything concerning it happened. there were people that did though >> the space shuttle accident, it's usually not one thing, it's a series of events you follow the debris. what's it telling you >> should have had that test on day one >> community of

seven months nina. blinded, the culprit of the accident, the driver of that same suv, alexander smirnov to bargain for freedom, the child sees neither me nor you, no one sees through your fault, my fault, yes, i, i ’m telling you again, i don’t want to communicate with you, i need money for the operation now, i don’t want to talk to you , please come out, then in the first months after a serious injury it was important to be in time, not to waste time and bring the fading optic nerve back to life. "she's still so small, and it's already dark in her eyes, i really don’t want to believe that she will never see snow, leaves again, the accused smirnov was free before the trial, but a suspended sentence must be earned, smirnov began to repent to the best of his ability, accused of an accident, alexander paid us 4 million rub. the audience did not remain indifferent ." after the release of the story, the program managed to collect about 400,000 rubles. thank you very much for your help. and it’s not in vain. nina look, look, baby, look, the right eye has completely recovered. there are no dev

the circumstances of the offenses charged that alexander smirnov lied to his fbi handler where the tohe provided was not trivial. it targeted the presumptive nominee. and it continues to be felt to this day. and it is a government memo so we'll excuse the understatement. but it continues to poison the body politics of this day. >> >> yeah, so even casting this in the light most favorable to these congressional republicans who wanted to begin an impeachment proceeding against joe biden on the base of this information. they genuinely believed there was an fbi informant who said these things and they even had a recording. they didn't listen to the recording before they went out and talked about it, is shame on them to begin with. but when they learned that this informant is not only discredited but charged with a crime for lying about the very thing, that they are not pulling the plug and apologizing is really baffling. instead, they're now saying well we don't have that any more but we'll find something. it shows that this is a conspiracy looking for some evidence to support it as oppos

the letter also pointed to the criminal indictment of the gop star witness, alexander smirnov who wasused of lying to the fbi about bribes he said the biden's took. despite the white house essentially telling house republicans to put up or shut up, let's be real here, they are unlikely to do so. house oversight chair, is pushing forward with his plan b, according to political this includes legislative reforms like tighter financial disclosure and foreign lobbying guardrails, and others to the doj, potential lawsuits, and calls from some within their own conference to just keep investigating., told the outlet that his number 1 priority has always been, not impeachment, but to pass influence peddling legislation, really? because comber was singing a very different to last year when he credited his investigations for biden's poor poll numbers. that's what his impeachment push has always been about, getting revenge for trump's to legitimate impeachment and of course, trying to hurt joe biden. but let's say we take comber at his word about tackling influence peddling. i say, go for it, bec

cbs news reporting federal prosecutors were put on notice as far back as 2016 that alexander smirnov was a liar and fraudsters. turns out it was just smoke and mirrors. smirnov was indicted for lying about the bidens. this dysfunction comes as former president trump continues to swallow up the republican party from installing his daughter-in-law at the rnc to getting top members at the party to bend a knee and endorse him. joining me is eugene robinson, and juanita tolliver. what a day podcast. that applies to every day. >> really. >> your thoughts on this unprecedented letter. it's from white house counsel to house speaker mike johnson. >> right. it's just kind much a take that from the white house because the impeachment inquiry has so spectacularly and publicly fizzled. i think the white house is just sort of emphasizing that and putting an exclamation point on it. the white house doesn't have the power to end the inquiry, the house has to do it. i presume it will end because they can't -- they don't have the votes for impeachment and they don't have any evidence to talk about rea

case is imploding, thanks to their star witness, alexander smirnov, seen here not being seen here.mirnov told his fbi handler that he could testify that the owner of the ukrainian energy company burisma had arranged to pay $5 million bribes to both president biden and his son hunter. that is what you'd call a smoking gun, okay, if it were smoking or a gun. turns out it was just a finger, and yes, it smells like butt. [laughter and applause] worth it right there. now, back then, the fbi warned republicans this information was unverified, but that did not stop them from staking their entire case on this clown-sky. and turns out, that might have been an oopsie-daisy, because now smirnov has been charged with lying to the fbi and creating false records and has admitted that he had been fed information about hunter biden from russia's intelligence services. the republicans in congress trying to impeach the president of the united states based on false information piped directly into capitol hill by the kremlin, at any other point in human history would be a scandal of such magnitude and

charged with lying to the fbi about the case, and then rearrested when a judge determined that alexander smirnovial call from a top senator. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu must go. chuck schumer making that call from the floor of the u.s. senate. >> i have known prime minister netanyahu for a very long time. while we have vehemently disagreed on many occasions, i will always respect his extraordinary bravery for israel on the battlefield as a younger man. i believe in his heart he has his highest priority as the security of israel. however, i also believe prime minister netanyahu has lost his way, by allowing his political survival to take the precedence over the best interests of israel. >> now, many world leaders, including president biden, have become worried about the ferocity of israel's attack on gaza, and widespread starvation. u.s. aid to gazans is expected to arrive today. the war cabinet looking over a new peace proposal put together by hamas, offering to exchange hostages for prisoners. america gets very upset when other countries interfere with our politics. the leaders o

the letter also pointed to the criminal indictment of the gop's star witness alexander smirnov who was accused of lying to the fbi about bribes he said the bidens took. despite the white house telling house republicans to put up or shut up, let's be real, they are unlikely to do so. james, is present. with his plan b. this includes legislative reforms like tighter financial disclosure and foreign lobbying guardrails, criminal referrals for hunter biden and others to the geo j, a potential lawsuit for official's testimony and calls from some within their own conference to just keep investigating., told the outlet that his number one priority has always been not impeachment, but to pass influence peddling legislation. really? because comber was singing a different tune last year when he credited his investigations are bidens poor poll numbers. that is what his impeachment push has always been about, getting revenge for trump's legitimate impeachments and of course trying to hurt joe biden. let's say we take him at his word about tackling influence peddling. i say go for it because as my

smirnov began to repent to the best of his ability. alexanderdent, paid us 4 million rubles. the viewers of the first program did not remain indifferent either. after the release of the story, we managed to collect about 400,000 rubles. thank you very much for your help. and it was not in vain, the amount collected was enough to begin nina’s rehabilitation. a happy mother can say long-awaited words to her daughter. mina, look. look what a little thing there is, nina. get up on your feet, on your knees. nina, look, look, baby, look, the right eye has completely recovered, there are no deviations, the left eye is not responding, treatment will still take a long time , there is still a chance to save the left eye, this, of course, still requires money, the culprit of the accident also promised it, but... with the condition of imprisonment of the real one, if he does not if they give it, then after the verdict he will pay us another 4 million rubles. only that reckless, arrogant criminal overtaking of smirny cost the life of nina’s fourteen-year-old

this realized, yeah, this, so this whistleblower who was recently just arrested by the fbi, alexander smirnov. do you know him? >> no i've never, met him >> according to this indictment, he made all of these claims about joe biden in a came straight from russian intelligence officials. from what you've read about presuming that you have do you see him as a russian intelligence operative? does you bear the hallmarks of someone who has that role >> absolutely. but you have to say another russian operative where he was trained by the kgb and he's a hardcore russian acid i don't think that's what he is from reading the indictment. i have a pretty much good idea of the people involved with them. i can't disclose it now because of certain act of things going on behind the scenes. but as far as him, he was probably a businessman. the way i see it that was greedy and used his position with the fbi to try to maneuver and make money and ganim slough caught up in a situation where the people he was working with eventually got to him because of his position and made him an offer. he couldn't refuse. and

does this surprise -- >> alexander smirnov started the whole thing with the so-called 1023 form. said hunter and joe biden got $10 million between them from burisma in ukraine. now, david weiss, the u.s. attorney appointed by donald trump in delaware, who's now the special counsel in the hunter biden case, he is prosecuting and has indicted -- >> smirnov! >> smirnov for lying to the fbi and conducting a false documentary record, and he is up to his neck with russian intelligence. and the whole thing now has a very strong with of a russian active measure intelligence op. >> your colleagues are barreling forward. at a certain point, they are becoming russian, unwittingly, becoming russian assets. >> after heralding this guy as their key star witness, now they are saying, oh, he did not have much to do with, it we've got a lot of other evidence. but right now, we've got a potential russian asset or agent in jail for making up lies and telling them to the u.s. government. we've got another of their star witnesses who is an accused accomplished to chinese intelligence, who's on the la

ties with the ukrainian company burisma, relies on the information provided by fbi informant alexander smirnovation about connections in the presidential... family with ukrainians from russian intelligence. this is just some kind of performance, now they are inviting joe biden for interrogation. it's just a shame that this is what we're spending taxpayers' money on instead of solving problems with ukraine and israel. the problems of ukraine are discussed every day, but they have not yet been solved. the $61 billion aid package is stalled in the lower house of the american congress. in vacation without pay in kyiv. the democrats have been persuading all week. oleg from the lower house of congress did not go on easter holidays without approved tranches for kiev, but he was not convinced either by persuasion about the state of affairs at the front, or by exhortations that most of the money would ultimately remain in america in military-industrial complex companies. now we will return to this issue again only in mid-april. donald trump does not want to give ukraine a single cent, and the former he

we do not have george hill here today because in way their start witness on their impeachment alexander smirnov remember him was her key witness in the hunter biden impeachment probe until we found out that everything you said was made up and he's got his information from russia. we do not know what is going to happen with george hill but we can pretty much based on the track record. but i want to thank our witnesses for being here. we don't always agree on things witnesses come and give their thoughts and be questioned by members of congress and of this hearing but want to particularly thank you for being here with us today. i want to thank him publicly for his bravery and his willingness in sharing his dramatic harrowing experience so publicly understand until there can be truths juxtaposed. i am sorry for you in all the men and women who fought on the front lines who stepped away from this room were in today to protect all of us in this building. the staff architects of the congress to the young people who were here my experience here today is nothing compared to what those officers went thr

zhanna skvortsova, vyacheslav rakov, alexander loginov and yuri smirnov. news petersburg. the st. perform at the russian slash hockey championship. all. operations, train four times a week, the players, veterans of the special military , have only been around for a few months, but already feel confident with a stick in their hands. anna tseveleva, chairman of the fatherland defenders foundation, watched the athletes on the ice today. this organization provides comprehensive assistance to svo participants and their family members. the athletes said they are ready to show what they are capable of in competitions with other teams. fighting mood. this is a very good stage of socialization. the guys from the military brotherhood immediately transfer. there are several directions in st. petersburg adaptive sports: shooting, including archery, table tennis, volleyball, powerlifting and others. voting ballots were brought to the leningrad region, the chairman of the regional election committee, mikhail lebedinsky, announced. it's all over tomorrow. will be taken to polling stations. this