House GOP’s 'star witness' tied to UK company owned by Trump associates in Dubai: report
The credibility of House Republicans' "star witness" against President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, suffered a major blow when he was arrested for allegedly lying to the FBI and reports showed that he was getting information from Russian intelligence.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) and countless right-wing media pundits touted Smirnov as the person who could prove that President Biden was involved in a bribery scheme involving the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. But Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland — the Oversight Committee's leading Democrat — told ABC News, "I think the Smirnov revelations destroy the entire case. Smirnov was the foundation of the whole thing. He was the one who came forward to say that Burisma had given Joe Biden $5 million, and that was just concocted in thin air."
Smirnov's history continues to draw scrutiny.
READ MORE: House Republicans explore 'backup options' as Biden impeachment goes nowhere
According to a report published by The Guardian on March 14, business filings and court documents show that Smirnov is "connected to a UK company owned by (Donald) Trump business associates in Dubai."
The Guardian's Jacqueline Sweet explains, "Smirnov's accounts to the FBI, beginning in 2020, that federal prosecutors now say are impossible fabrications, served as a major justification of the House impeachment investigation into the Bidens….. Back in 2020, Smirnov was paid $600,000 by a company called Educational Transformation Technologies (ETT), prosecutors said. That same year, Smirnov began lying to the FBI about the Bidens, according to his indictment."
According to Sweet, ETT's shareholders include CEO Christopher Condon, an American, as well as "Pakistani-American investor Shah Khan and Farooq Arjomand, a former chairman and current board member of Damac Properties in Dubai."
"Condon, Arjomand and Khan registered ETT Investment Holding Limited in the UK on 6 March 2020," Sweet reports. "Khan, an investor who purchased the Plaza Hotel in 2018, and Arjomand have ties to Donald Trump through Trump associates and Damac, a major Middle East developer that has partnered with Trump for a decade."
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Sweet continues, "Arjomand, Khan and Condon owned 34, 33 and 33 percent of ETT Investment Holding Limited respectively, according to UK business filings…. Former Damac Chairman Hussain Sajwani is also close to Trump and has been described as his friend in multiple news reports. Trump has called the billionaire a 'friend' and a 'great man,' and his family 'the most beautiful people.' Sajwani attended Trump’s 2016 inauguration, and Trump's sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump attended the 2017 ribbon-cutting of Trump International golf club in Dubai, licensed by Damac in 2014."
READ MORE: 'We were warned': GOP rep says Smirnov indictment 'really undercuts' impeachment efforts
Read The Guardian's full report at this link.
