FBI Informant Jailed Over Biden Bribe Claim is Released

The FBI informant who ignited a political firestorm with explosive allegations of a $10 million bribery scheme involving Joe and Hunter Biden has been quietly released from federal prison — not because he was cleared, but because he’s going blind.

Alexander Smirnov, the 45-year-old former bureau asset once hailed by congressional Republicans as a key witness in the Biden corruption saga, is now out on medical furlough, his legal team confirmed to The Post.

“Since Mr. Smirnov’s arrest, he has required crucial eye surgery which was denied to him for an extended period of time,” said defense attorney David Chesnoff. “The delay only worsened an already serious condition.”

Smirnov had been serving a six-year sentence after pleading guilty last December to fabricating details about an alleged international bribery plot connected to Burisma — the controversial Ukrainian gas company that once paid Hunter Biden up to $1 million a year for a board seat he wasn’t qualified for, while then-Vice President Joe Biden oversaw Ukraine policy for the Obama administration.

In 2023, Smirnov provided the FBI with an explosive tip that claimed Burisma executives paid $5 million each to Joe and Hunter Biden to make a corruption probe disappear. The allegation, aired by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and used as a central pillar in the Republican push to impeach Biden, was later discredited after federal prosecutors said Smirnov lied — a claim that many conservatives still question.

Smirnov’s release wasn’t ordered by a judge, who previously ruled he was a flight risk. Instead, the Bureau of Prisons granted the furlough after what his team described as a rapidly deteriorating eye condition that has now rendered him legally blind.

His current medical furlough is expected to last 30 days — though lawyers say they’ll fight to extend it due to the severity of his condition and the lack of adequate care behind bars.

Independent journalist Jacqueline Sweet first reported Smirnov’s release, but details remain scarce. His attorney declined to share the exact date Smirnov walked out of the Los Angeles federal facility where he was held.

“We appreciate the Bureau of Prisons recognizing the incredibly serious nature of his condition,” Chesnoff added. “This is about basic human rights.”

Though Smirnov now faces time as a convicted felon, his original claims continue to fuel conservative outrage. The Burisma payments and the Biden family’s foreign entanglements in countries like China, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine remain a political powder keg — one that President Trump’s allies have vowed to keep in focus heading into 2026.

Sen. Grassley has stood by his decision to make the informant’s claims public, arguing that transparency is vital — especially when it comes to holding the Biden family accountable.

“The American people deserve to know who’s pulling the strings,” said a senior GOP aide close to the investigation. “Just because Smirnov folded under pressure doesn’t mean the story goes away.”