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☆ When Prison and Mental Illness Amount to a Death Sentence
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Carlos Javier Ortiz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Four men in black tactical gear pinned him, his face to the concrete, to cuff his hands behind his back. “I didn’t do anything,” Mr. Johnson moaned as they pressed a shield between his shoulders. Mr. Johnson, 21 and serving a short sentence for gun possession, was in the throes of a mental collapse that had gone largely untreated, but hardly unwatched. But for the previous three weeks, Mr. Johnson, who suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, had refused to eat or take his medication. Most dangerous of all, he had stealthily stopped drinking water, hastening the physical collapse that often accompanies full-scale mental crises.

Persons: Markus Johnson, Mr, Johnson moaned, Johnson Organizations: Danville Correctional Center Locations: Danville, Chicago

Representative Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas, and his wife were charged with participating in a yearslong $600,000 bribery scheme involving Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank, according to a federal indictment unsealed in Houston on Friday. Mr. Cuellar, 68, and his wife Imelda, 67, are accused of bribery and money laundering in connection with their efforts on behalf of a bank based in Mexico City and an energy company owned by Azerbaijan, according to the 54-page complaint. Mr. Cuellar is also accused of acting as an agent of a foreign entity while serving as a U.S. government official. Payments made from 2014 to 2021 were laundered through “sham consulting contracts,” front companies and shell companies owned by Mrs. Cuellar, who performed “little to no legitimate work” under the contracts, lawyers with the Justice Department’s criminal division wrote.

Persons: Henry Cuellar, Mr, Cuellar, Imelda, . Cuellar Organizations: Justice Locations: Texas, Azerbaijan, Mexican, Houston, Mexico City, U.S

The Justice Department plans to forward a recommendation for easing restrictions on marijuana to the White House in what could amount to a major change in federal policy, according to three people familiar with the matter. Even though the move, which if approved would kick off a lengthy rule-making process, does not end the criminalization of the drug, it would be a significant shift in how the government views the safety and use of marijuana for medical purposes. It could also lead to the softening of other laws and regulations that account for the use or possession of cannabis, including sentencing guidelines, banking and access to public housing. One person familiar with the recommendation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland would tell the White House Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday that the government should change the drug’s classification.

Persons: General Merrick B, Garland Organizations: Department, White, Office of Management

☆ Ex-F.B.I. Lawyer Who Criticized Trump Says Bureau Failed to Warn Her About Stalker
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Adam Goldman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A troubled veteran stalked a high-profile former F.B.I. official at her house in Washington last year — just weeks after the bureau determined he did not pose an imminent threat despite his documented obsession with guns and mass shootings, investigators said. lawyer, Lisa Page, who became a persistent target of President Donald J. Trump after her text messages became public in 2017, attended Mr. Perez’s hearing in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. She asked the judge for more stringent restrictions and accused the bureau of failing to warn her of the possible threat posed by Mr. Perez. During one visit, he interacted with Ms. Page’s 11-year-old son.

Persons: —, John C, Perez, Lisa Page, Donald J, Trump, Mr, Page’s Organizations: ex, Marine, District of Columbia, Metropolitan Police Department Locations: Washington, California, Superior

The Justice Department is investigating McKinsey & Company, the international consulting giant, for its role in helping drug companies maximize their sale of opioids. Since 2021, McKinsey has agreed to pay about $1 billion to settle investigations and lawsuits across the United States related to the firm’s work with opioid makers, principally Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. McKinsey recommended that Purdue “turbocharge” its sales of the drug in the midst of the opioid crisis, which has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. News of the criminal investigation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Last year another opioid maker, Mallinckrodt, said it received a grand jury subpoena from the same U.S. attorney’s office but did not mention any connection to McKinsey.

Persons: Endo, Mallinckrodt Organizations: McKinsey & Company, U.S, Western, of, McKinsey, Purdue Pharma, Purdue “ turbocharge, Wall, The New York Times Locations: Massachusetts, of Virginia, Washington, United States

☆ Justice Dept. Reaches $138.7 Million Settlement Over F.B.I.’s Failures in Nassar Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Juliet Macur | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department said on Tuesday it would pay $138.7 million to resolve 139 claims by young women, including many top female gymnasts, of abuse by the former U.S.A. Gymnastics doctor Lawrence G. Nassar. The far-reaching settlement, which had been expected, stems from the failure of Federal Bureau of Investigation officials to promptly investigate credible claims that Mr. Nassar had sexually assaulted more than 150 women and girls under the guise of examinations and treatment. It likely marks the end of a yearslong effort by the gymnasts — including the Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman — to achieve a measure of justice and public recognition that the institutions entrusted to protect young female athletes failed to protect them. While lawyers for the young women hailed the settlement, they cast the government’s monetary compensation for its early reluctance to fully investigate Mr. Nassar as a case of too little, too late.

Persons: Lawrence G, Nassar, Mr, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman — Organizations: Gymnastics, Federal Bureau of

☆ No Bias Found in F.B.I. Report on Catholic Extremists
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Adam Goldman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A memo by the F.B.I. warning of possible threats posed by “radical-traditionalist” Catholics violated professional standards but showed “no evidence of malicious intent,” according to an internal Justice Department inquiry made public on Thursday. Republicans have seized on the 11-page memo, which was leaked early last year, as a talking point. They have pointed to the document to sharply criticize the bureau and suggested, without evidence, that it was part of a broader campaign by the Biden administration to persecute Catholics and conservatives over their beliefs. The memo was quickly withdrawn after being leaked, and top law enforcement officials have repeatedly distanced themselves from it.

Persons: “, Biden Organizations: Department, Republicans, Justice Locations: Richmond , Va

☆ Justice Dept. Nears Settlement Over F.B.I.’s Failure to Investigate Larry Nassar
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Juliet Macur | Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department is nearing a $100 million settlement over its initial failure to investigate Lawrence G. Nassar, the former U.S.A. Gymnastics team doctor convicted of sexually abusing girls under his care, according to people familiar with the situation. The approach of a settlement comes two and a half years after senior F.B.I. officials publicly admitted that agents had failed to take quick action when U.S. national team athletes complained about Mr. Nassar to the bureau’s Indianapolis field office in 2015, when Mr. Nassar was a respected physician known for working with Olympians and college athletes. He has been accused of abusing more than 150 women and girls over the years.

Persons: Lawrence G, Nassar Organizations: Gymnastics Locations: Indianapolis

☆ Under Half of Illegal Gun Cases Tracked by A.T.F. Were Involved in Black Market Sales
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Four in 10 illegal gun cases tracked by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were involved in black market sales, including from shadow dealers who used a legal loophole to evade background checks, according to an analysis of firearms trafficking released on Thursday. About another 40 percent of gun investigations initiated by federal officials centered on illegal “straw” purchases made by proxies hired by criminals, or other people prohibited from legally buying weapons for themselves because of drug use or mental illnesses. The report, part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to make public previously undisclosed firearms data, offered an expansive portrait of the country’s growing illegal firearms market — including the origin of weapons and trafficking patterns. investigations from 2017 to 2021 — a period that included the biggest surge in gun violence in decades. But it is likely to undercount more recent developments, such as the rapid proliferation of deadly homemade weapons known as “ghost guns,” federal officials said.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Bureau, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives

The Justice Department is sending subpoenas and using a recently convened grand jury in Seattle as it widens a criminal investigation into the door plug that blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner in January, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board said four bolts meant to secure the door plug in place were missing before the panel blew off. This month, it was reported that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation of Boeing, which had reinstalled the door plug during maintenance in Renton, Wash., before delivering the plane to Alaska Airlines in October. The subpoenas and use of the grand jury were reported earlier Friday by Bloomberg. Boeing said it agreed with the F.A.A.’s decision and pledged to cooperate.

Persons: jetliner Organizations: Boeing, Max, Alaska Airlines, Portland International, National Transportation Safety, Justice Department, Bloomberg, Federal Aviation Administration Locations: Seattle, Oregon, Renton, Wash, Alaska

☆ Poised and Precise, Hur Enters Fray Over Special Counsel’s Report on Biden
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Luke Broadwater | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The former special counsel Robert K. Hur, denounced by Democrats for his unsparing description of President Biden’s memory lapses, had one of his own during his testimony on Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee. Representative James R. Comer, a Kentucky Republican, made passing reference to Dana A. Remus, a Democratic lawyer who had served as White House counsel under Mr. Biden from January 2021 to July 2022. Mr. Hur crinkled an eyebrow and corrected him: No, he said, she occupied that post under President Obama. The misstep was an isolated moment in an otherwise poised and precise appearance by Mr. Hur, 51, who was testifying about his report on the investigation into Mr. Biden’s handling of classified documents. Mr. Hur, a Trump-era Justice Department official known among former colleagues for keeping a cool head in high-stress, high-stakes situations, incited a furor after describing the president as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Persons: Robert K, Hur, James R, Comer, Dana A, Remus, Biden, Mr, Obama, Mr . Hur, . Hur, ” Organizations: Kentucky Republican, Democratic, White, -, Department Locations: Kentucky

☆ Robert Hur, Special Counsel Who Investigated Biden, to Testify Before Congress
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Robert K. Hur will walk into a Capitol Hill hearing room on Tuesday as a uniquely unifying figure in divided Washington — a man disdained by Democrats and Republicans alike. In February, Mr. Hur, the special counsel who investigated President Biden, concluded a yearlong investigation into Mr. Biden’s retention of sensitive government documents by finding that the president should face no criminal charges. But Mr. Hur, using language Mr. Biden’s team saw as gratuitous, politically damaging and outside his job description, described the octogenarian president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” likely to be acquitted by any jury. Mr. Hur, 51, will face withering questioning from both parties when he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee to explain his exoneration of Mr. Biden and the barbed prose in his 345-page report.

Persons: Robert K, Hur, Biden, Biden’s, Mr . Hur, Mr Organizations: Democrats, Republicans, Mr, Committee Locations: Washington

☆ Special Counsel Who Investigated Biden Offers Fierce Defense of Report
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Luke Broadwater | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Robert K. Hur, the special counsel who investigated President Biden, on Tuesday fiercely defended the disparaging assessment of the president’s mental state included in his final report — and his decision not to charge Mr. Biden with a crime. Mr. Hur, appearing before the House Judiciary Committee to answer questions about his polarizing 345-page report, cast himself as an impartial arbiter. He said he had expressed concerns about Mr. Biden’s memory because he needed to justify not bringing a case against Mr. Biden after some evidence showed that the president had willfully retained sensitive material from his vice presidency. “I resolved to do the work as I did all my work for the department: fairly, thoroughly and professionally,” he said in his opening statement. Mr. Hur, a registered Republican who has been slammed by Mr. Biden’s allies for including his politically damaging assessment of Mr. Biden’s memory, showed little emotion during the hearing, but reacted angrily when a Democrat suggested he had “smeared” the president to bolster Mr. Trump.

Persons: Robert K, Hur, Biden, —, Mr, . Hur, “, ”, Mr . Hur, Biden’s, Trump Organizations: Democrat

The Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation into Boeing after a panel on one of the company’s planes blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight in early January, a person familiar with the matter said. to be conducting an investigation,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement. “We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation.” Boeing had no comment. On Jan. 5, a panel on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet operated by Alaska Airlines blew out in midair, exposing passengers to the outside air thousands of feet above ground. The panel is known as a “door plug” and is used to cover a gap left by an unneeded exit door.

Persons: ” Organizations: Department, Boeing, Alaska Airlines, ” Boeing, Max, National Transportation Safety Board

☆ Ex-Google Engineer Charged With Stealing A.I. Secrets for Chinese Firm
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Nico Grant | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Chinese citizen who recently quit his job as a software engineer for Google in California has been charged with trying to transfer artificial intelligence technology to a Beijing-based company that paid him secretly, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday. Prosecutors accused Linwei Ding, who was part of the team that designs and maintains Google’s vast A.I. supercomputer data system, of stealing information about the “architecture and functionality” of the system, and of pilfering software used to “orchestrate” supercomputers “at the cutting edge of machine learning and A.I. technology.”From May 2022 to May 2023, Mr. Ding, also known as Leon, uploaded 500 files, many containing trade secrets, from his Google-issued laptop to the cloud by using a multistep scheme that allowed him to “evade immediate detection,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of California. Mr. Ding was arrested on Wednesday morning at his home in Newark, Calif., not far from Google’s sprawling main campus in Mountain View, officials said.

Persons: Linwei Ding, Ding, Leon Organizations: Google, Prosecutors, Northern, Northern District of Locations: California, Beijing, Northern District, Northern District of California, Newark , Calif, Mountain View

A Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of posting secret intelligence reports and sensitive documents online agreed to plead guilty on Monday in exchange for a 16-year sentence and a commitment to comprehensively brief officials on the extent of his leaks. The airman, Jack Teixeira, withdrew his not-guilty plea during an appearance in Boston federal court and pleaded guilty to six counts of “willful retention and transmission of national defense information,” according to court documents filed by the government. The judge in the case, Indira Talwani, scheduled a hearing in September to determine whether she would sign off on the deal. It would be highly unusual for a judge to make major alterations to a deal that required approval from top American intelligence and law enforcement officials. The Justice Department agreed not to charge him with violations of the Espionage Act, which, when combined with the other charges, could have resulted in a sentence of up to 60 years in prison had he been convicted.

Persons: Jack Teixeira, Indira Talwani Organizations: Massachusetts Air National, The Justice Department Locations: Boston

The Justice Department is reviewing whether an early January incident in which a part of a Boeing plane blew out in midflight violated a 2021 agreement to settle a criminal charge against the company, according to a person familiar with the review. Boeing agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion to settle the charge, which stemmed from two fatal crashes of its 737 Max 8 planes. The Justice Department agreed to drop a criminal charge that was based on the actions of two employees who had withheld information from the F.A.A. There were no serious injuries, but the incident could have been catastrophic had it occurred minutes later, at a higher altitude. The panel is known as a “door plug,” which is used to cover a gap left by an unneeded exit door.

Persons: Trump Organizations: Boeing, Justice Department Locations: midflight, Portland ,

Michael Cargill, owner of Central Texas Gun Works in Austin, opposes the ban on bump stock sales. “During the Trump administration, the bump stock ban cropped up as a rather glaring example of unlawful administrative power,” Philip Hamburger, a founder of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, said in an email. Image A bump stock attaches to a semiautomatic rifle and enables it to fire at a much higher rate. In response, the Justice Department promised to review the legality of bump stocks, but A.T.F. Eventually, the full court agreed with Mr. Cargill by vote of 13 to 3, split along ideological lines.

Persons: Michael Cargill, ”, Cargill, Trump, ” Philip Hamburger, Elizabeth B, Prelogar, George Frey, Cargill strolled, “, Mark Chenoweth, ” Mr, Chenoweth, Obama, ” “, Mr, Charles Koch, Jonathan F, Mitchell, Donald J, Stephen Paddock, Erin Schaff, Jennifer Walker Elrod Organizations: Central Texas Gun, Government, Army, New Civil Liberties Alliance, —, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives, National Firearms, Charles Koch Foundation, Koch Industries, Colorado Supreme, National Rifle Association, Justice Department, Congress, The New York Times Federal, U.S ., Appeals, Fifth Circuit, Mr, Gun Control Locations: Austin, Las Vegas, ”, “, Texas

☆ Ex-F.B.I. Informant to Be Held in Custody Indefinitely, Judge Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Lauren Herstik | Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

informant charged with falsely claiming that President Biden and his son Hunter had accepted bribes, will be held in custody indefinitely because he poses a significant flight risk, a judge in California ruled on Monday. After a 45-minute hearing, a bespectacled Mr. Smirnov — stocky, bearded with close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair and wearing tan and orange prison togs — pleaded not guilty in heavily accented English, turning around briefly to wave at his longtime girlfriend seated in the gallery. Prosecutors working for David C. Weiss, the special counsel investigating Hunter Biden, offered new details about the circumstances of Mr. Smirnov’s rearrest last week in the office of his lawyer. They grew alarmed after a search of the $980,000 condo where he has lived for the past two years revealed nine handguns, they said. (Prosecutors said that Mr. Smirnov had paid for the apartment but that it was in his girlfriend’s name.)

Persons: Alexander Smirnov, Biden, Hunter, Smirnov, —, Otis D, Wright, David C, Weiss, Hunter Biden, Smirnov’s rearrest Organizations: Federal, Court, Prosecutors Locations: California, Las Vegas, Russia

☆ Ex-F.B.I. Informant to Appear in Federal Court in Las Vegas
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Alexander Smirnov, 43, the former F.B.I. informant accused of peddling lies about President Biden and his son Hunter, is scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday after being arrested for the second time in a week. Mr. Smirnov was sitting in his lawyer’s office in Las Vegas Thursday morning when U.S. Marshals burst in to take him into custody. The bizarre episode is the latest development in a case that has spawned public interest and confusion in equal measure, centering on an enigmatic fixer whose accusations formed the fractured bedrock of a push by Republicans to impeach Mr. Biden.

Persons: Alexander Smirnov, Biden, Hunter, Smirnov, Mr Organizations: U.S Locations: Las Vegas

☆ Ignoring Warnings, G.O.P. Trumpeted Now-Discredited Allegation Against Biden
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Luke Broadwater | Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In May 2023, Senator Charles E. Grassley, a chief antagonist of President Biden, strode to the Senate floor with some shocking news: He had learned, he said, of a document in the F.B.I.’s possession that could reveal “a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden.”Mr. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, suggested to any Americans listening that there was a single document that could confirm the most sensational corruption allegations against Mr. Biden — and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was engaging in a coverup. “Did they sweep it under the rug to protect the candidate Biden?” he asked conspiratorially. Over the next few months, Mr. Grassley’s quest to make public the allegation — laid out in an obscure document known as an F.B.I. Form 1023 — became a fixation, and a foundation of the growing Republican push to impeach Mr. Biden as payback for Democrats’ treatment of former President Donald J. Trump. At the center of it all was the unsubstantiated accusation that Mr. Biden had taken a $5 million bribe from the executive of a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.

Persons: Charles E, Grassley, Biden, strode, ’, ” Mr, Mr, Biden —, ”, conspiratorially, —, Donald J Organizations: Iowa Republican, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Trump Locations: Iowa, “, Ukrainian

☆ The Informant Turned Defendant Who Took Aim at the Bidens
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Kenneth P. Vogel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For more than a decade, he played a double game, giving the F.B.I. In 2020, Mr. Smirnov told his F.B.I. handler what prosecutors say was a brazen lie — that the oligarch owner of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had arranged to pay $5 million bribes to both President Biden and his son Hunter. The explosive claim was leaked to Republicans, who made Mr. Smirnov’s allegations a centerpiece of their now-stalled effort to impeach President Biden, apparently without verifying the allegation. Last week, Mr. Smirnov, 43, was indicted on charges that he lied to investigators about the Bidens.

Persons: Alexander Smirnov, Smirnov, Burisma, Biden, Hunter Organizations: Soviet Locations: Soviet Union, Ukrainian

☆ Ex-Informant Accused of Lying About Bidens Said He Had Russian Contacts
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Alan Feuer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

informant accused of making false bribery claims about President Biden and his son Hunter — which were widely publicized by Republicans — claimed to have been fed information by Russian intelligence, according to a court filing on Tuesday. But Mr. Smirnov told federal investigators that “officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story” about Hunter Biden. Those disclosures, including Mr. Smirnov’s unverifiable claim that he met with Russian intelligence officials as recently as three months ago, made him a flight risk and endangered national security, Justice Department officials said. Mr. Smirnov had been held in custody in Las Vegas, where he has lived since 2022, since his arrest last week. He was released from custody on Tuesday on a personal recognizance bond after a detention hearing, said his lawyers, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld.

Persons: Biden, Hunter —, Republicans —, Alexander Smirnov, Smirnov, Hunter Biden, David Chesnoff, Richard Schonfeld Organizations: Republicans, Justice Locations: Las Vegas

☆ Many Suicides in Prisons Could Have Been Averted, Justice Dept. Watchdog Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dozens of inmates, including the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, have died needlessly in federal prisons as a result of lax supervision, access to contraband and poor monitoring of at-risk inmates, according to a report released on Thursday by the Justice Department’s watchdog. The Bureau of Prisons, responsible for about 155,000 inmates, routinely subjects prisoners to conditions that put them at heightened risk of self-harm, drug overdoses, accidents and violence, the department’s inspector general found after analyzing 344 deaths from 2013 to 2021 that had not been caused by illnesses. More than half of those deaths were suicides, and many of them could have been prevented if inmates had received appropriate mental health assessments or been housed with other prisoners in accordance with departmental guidelines instead of being left alone, like Mr. Epstein, the report concluded. The report “identified several operational and managerial deficiencies” that violated standing bureau policies, said Michael E. Horowitz, the inspector general, whose investigators previously concluded that Mr. Epstein’s death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in 2019 was the result of gross negligence and inadequate staffing.

Persons: Jeffrey Epstein, Epstein, Michael E, Horowitz, Epstein’s Organizations: Justice, of Prisons, Metropolitan Correctional Center

☆ Ex-F.B.I. Informant Is Charged With Lying Over Bidens’ Role in Ukraine Business
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Glenn Thrush | More About Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The special counsel investigating Hunter Biden has charged a former F.B.I. informant with fabricating claims that President Biden and his son sought two $5 million bribes from a Ukrainian energy company, according to an indictment in a California federal court. The former informant, Alexander Smirnov, 43, was accused of falsely telling the F.B.I. The story Mr. Smirnov told investigators was part of a series of explosive and unsubstantiated claims by Republicans that the Bidens engaged in potentially criminal activity — allegations central to the party’s efforts to impeach the president. record that included the false allegation without naming Mr. Smirnov, or questioning its veracity.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Biden, Alexander Smirnov, Smirnov, Charles E, Grassley Organizations: Republican Locations: Ukrainian, California, Iowa

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