William: An informant who's been charged with lying to the FBI about president Biden recently told law enforcement he's been in contact with Russian agents. That informant's story is at the center of Republicans' ongoing effort to impeach president Biden. Laura barron-lopez has more. Lauren: In a court filing last night, special counsel David Weiss said ex-fbi informant Alexander smirnov told them he met with Russian operatives as recently as last December. In the filing, prosecutors wrote: Smir
nov admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story about businessperson 1, referring to president Biden's son, hunter Biden. Prosecutors say that story, of a Ukrainian energy firm bribing president Biden and his son, is a complete fabrication, being used to interfere in U.S. Elections. Joining me to discuss the implications is Ryan Goodman, former special counsel for the department of defense. What is the big take away from this latest revelation? >
> The big take away is that Mr. Smirnoff appears to have been acting as an agent of Russian intelligence, and according to the department of justice filing in court, he was knowingly passing on false, derogatory information about president Biden and hunter Biden to the FBI. And that he has been doing so recently and actively. So that is the kind of bombshell of the court filing by the justice department. Laura: Alexander smirnov first made this raw allegation in 2020. It was not corroborated. So
why is David Vaught -- David Weiss deciding to bring these charges now, and also want you think smirnov is just revealing last week that he has been in contact with Russian Intel officials? >> It seems as though Mr. Weiss has been willing a case against Mr. Smirnov and that the FBI knew along the way that Mr. Smit office telling them lies and fabrications, they were able to corroborate the assertions that these were falsehoods because his chronology did not line up, the times he said -- said he
met with the burisma company did not line up. He made allegations about hunter Biden being in a country that hunter Biden never visited. It's about building that case to be able to prosecute him fully for false statements to the FBI. Now have this amount of new evidence and allegations in the court filing because the justice department is trying to implore the judges to not release his or smirnov before. So that's where all this new information comes in. He is revealing it to the government aft
er rest, so that is important to know that because at that point, he should've known the gig is up. It is him kind of coming clean after arrest and knowingly telling the FBI's best he could his contacts with Russian officials. Laura: The unverified allegation was made and what is called a 1023 form, where the FBI takes in those raw allegations, and it was the foundation of that form for the house Republican impeachment probe. Just last month, the house judiciary chairman Jim Jordan said that for
m, that raw allegation, was the heart of it. >> The most corroborating evidence we have is at 1023 form from this highly credible, confidential source, according to Scott Brady. >> Politics and impeachment aside, from a national security perspective, what are the implications of apparent Russian disinformation being filtered through top Republican elected officials and media outlets like Fox News? >> In a certain sense, that is the goal of the Russian Kremlin disinformation campaigns inside the
United States. They want to divide us, they want to upset and overturn in a certain since our institution. So if they can do something as much as fuel and impeachment process against a sitting president, that is already a success. To me, when I read this court filing, that was one of the most alarming parts of it, just how much the Russian intelligence operation had in some sense succeeded in jumpstarting this process, and even wins piece or -- speaker Mccarthy announced the impeachment process,
he referred specifically to Mr. Smit office what are now understood to be lies to the FBI, because that was also the heart of the allegation. So it is deeply concerning is a national security matter. >> What are the implications for the house Republican impeachment inquiry? >> I would have to think Republicans would have to go back to the drawing board. It really does undermine a fundamental building block of the impeachment. So many of the allegations about president Biden kind of being bribed
or coming from Mr. Smirnov, so many of the statements made by house Republicans in favor of impeachment are traceable to him. >> In this filing, special counsel David Weiss said the misinformation he is spreading is not confined to 2020. He being smirnov is actively peddling second impact the selections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November. Do you think that the damage is done and this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to potential Russian interference ahead
of 2024? >> I think a lot of damage has already been done. He really has in a certain sense, this particular individual, had an enormous effect on our political psyche and what has happened on the hill. In the corridors of power. I think that has already happened. I also think it is the tip of the iceberg, but what is so astonishing about the court filing is that unlike the prior instances in which this goes according to the Russian playbook, we have direct information about Russian intelligence
officials being right there in this operation. For it was about cut outs, but here it is Russian officials. Russian official number one is identified as someone who has a direct line to the highest levels of the Russian government. We can all understand what that means. In a certain since it is the tip of the iceberg. There is no way in which this is the only aspect of this Russian disinformation campaign. It's just giving an indication of what they're trying to do to the country during especia
lly a presidential election cycle. >> Congress is in the middle of a heated debate about aiding Ukraine against Russian invasion. Last week, former president Donald Trump said he would encourage Russia to invade nato allies if they don't spend enough on defense. So how does this latest revelation of the X FBI informant having connections to Russian intelligence officials fit into the bigger picture? >> Is part of Vladimir Putin's overall strategic plan. His main goal is to do something like divi
de the west, certainly to divide nato or have nato breakup at a certain point. At some level I think it is to do what he is done in the past, which is to support a candidate who has that as part of their agenda. It is to undermine the competing candidate, which is part of his agenda, and even if he doesn't succeed at having one of them win and the other one lose, the idea that he can inject so much distrust into the body politic in the United States around these issues of U.S. Relationships with
Ukraine, that is what he wants. >> That is running Goodman, former special counsel into the defense department. Thank you so much for your time. >> Thank you. ♪♪
Comments