image source, Getty Images
President Joe Biden (left) and his son Hunter in 2010
U.S. prosecutors say a former FBI informant accused of lying about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter has high-level ties to Russian intelligence.
The charges against Alexander Smirnov, 43, were outlined in a new lawsuit filed by the Justice Department on Tuesday.
Smirnov is accused of lying when he claimed bribes were paid to the Bidens through the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
He was indicted last week on charges of making false statements to the FBI.
Smirnov's allegations were part of an ongoing effort by Republicans to impeach President Biden.
He was arrested Thursday in Las Vegas, Nevada, after returning from an overseas flight, the Justice Department said.
Prosecutors had asked that Smirnov, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, be held without bail, saying he had no ties to Las Vegas but did have contacts with Russian intelligence.
But on Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregutz allowed the defendant to be released from custody and monitored by GPS until his trial. He must remain in Clark County, Nevada, and is prohibited from applying for a new passport.
Mr. Smirnov has been held at a prison in Pahrump, about an hour from Las Vegas, since his arrest, but did not speak to journalists during his court appearance.
The Justice Department said he disclosed his intelligence contacts to FBI officials and said he could use those contacts, which prosecutors described as “extensive and very recent,” to leave the United States. That's what it means.
In court documents filed Tuesday, prosecutors also said Smirnov told authorities he only had $1,500 in cash and $5,000 in his bank account, when in reality he had about $6 million. He claimed that he had access to “liquid funds”.
“The fact that Smirnov misrepresented his assets alone should cause Smirnov to be detained, because it shows that Smirnov did not provide true and complete information to pretrial services at the first opportunity. ,” the application states.
In December 2023, Smirnov attended an overseas meeting with “certain senior officials of Russian foreign intelligence services,” according to the filing.
According to the Justice Department, Mr. Smirnov told FBI officials that he had learned that Russian intelligence had intercepted “several” phone calls made by prominent U.S. figures. Neither the hotel nor its location has been identified.
Smirnov reportedly said the wiretap recordings could be used as a “kompromat” during the 2024 election campaign.
He was indicted in June 2020 by special counsel David Weiss, who oversaw the Hunter Biden investigation, on charges of providing “false and derogatory information” about the president and his son to the FBI.
Prosecutors say Smirnov was motivated by hatred of the president.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.
In a separate court filing on Tuesday, Hunter Biden's lawyers argued that he was the victim of politically motivated “selective and retaliatory prosecution” and called for the federal tax charges to be dropped. I asked for it.
Additionally, the filing argues that prosecutors' claims that the younger Biden lived a “lavish” and “lavish” lifestyle are “irrelevant and prejudicial” to the case.
