Grassley, Johnson demand interviews with FBI agents who handled indicted source

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson this week demanded transcribed interviews with the FBI handling agent who dealt with indicted confidential human source Alexander Smirnov, as well as the agent's supervisors.

Smirnov provided key allegations that featured in an FD-1023 document outlining an alleged bribery scheme involving Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, as well as President Joe Biden and first son Hunter Biden. Special counsel David Weiss in February charged Smirnov over providing false information.

Writing to Weiss, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, the Republicans demanded that they outline what steps the DOJ took to investigate the FD-1023. Much of the letter highlighted the bureau's longstanding reliance on Smirnov as a source.

"The federal indictment of Smirnov leaves many questions unanswered, including how the Justice Department and FBI could use this Confidential Human Source for approximately 14 years, pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars, use his information in investigations and prosecutions, and then ultimately determine he’s a liar," they wrote. "The FBI’s questionable handling of this Confidential Human Source underscores, as Senator Johnson has pointed out, a greater scandal relating to the overall corruption within federal law enforcement, the Justice Department, and the intelligence community."

They further set a deadline of May 7 for the DOJ to make four persons with redacted identities available for interview and provided a list of 22 questions related to how the DOJ responded to the allegations and how it assessed Smirnov's credibility or lack thereof.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.