CNN put House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) in the hot seat as the network's star correspondent grilled him over his previous support of discredited bribery claims against President Joe Biden. The claims were made by indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who alleged that Biden received a $5 million bribe from a Ukrainian oligarch. Smirnov was later charged by the Justice Department for lying to the FBI regarding these allegations, which were based on Russian intelligence. Despite this, Jordan, a key figure in the GOP's impeachment inquiry against Biden, has staunchly defended the claims as recently as last month, citing them as crucial evidence.

During the heated exchange, Jordan attempted to pivot away from addressing Smirnov's arrest, insisting that the discredited claims do not alter the "four fundamental facts" behind the impeachment push. However, CNN's chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju pressed him on the inconsistency in his statements, reminding Jordan of his previous assertions regarding the credibility of Smirnov's claims. Jordan pivoted towards blaming the FBI for lending credibility to Smirnov's unsubstantiated allegations, stating that the informant was a paid FBI source.

As the exchange continued, the CNN reporter challenged Jordan on the false narrative he had promoted, to which Jordan conceded that the FBI had deemed Smirnov's claims as untrue. The heated back-and-forth highlighted the discrepancy between Jordan's previous support of the discredited claims and the FBI's dismissal of them as false information.

The confrontation on CNN serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing controversy surrounding the debunked bribery claims against President Biden and the role of key GOP figures in perpetuating them.