Alexander Smirnov, the FBI informant charged with fabricating claims about US President Joe Biden and his son, has been arrested once more, just days after being released on bail.
The development comes as a significant twist in a case that has captured widespread attention for its potential implications on US politics.
Smirnov, a 43-year-old dual US and Israeli national, was initially arrested and indicted for allegedly concocting stories that Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, demanded multi-million-dollar bribes from a Ukrainian firm, Burisma, where he served on the board. The fabricated claims suggested that these bribes were meant to protect the company from investigation during Joe Biden’s tenure as Vice President of the United States.
A federal court unsealed a two-count indictment on Thursday, February 15, 2024, that was returned by a federal grand jury in the Central District of California charging Smirnov with making a false statement, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and creating a false and fictitious record, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519, for statements he made that were recorded in an official record of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) known as a Form 1023.
Last week, Smirnov was released on bail by a court in Nevada, despite objections from prosecutors who feared he might flee. However, just days after his release and while attending meetings with his attorneys, Smirnov was arrested for the second time.
Smirnov was arrested Thursday during a meeting with his lawyers after prosecutors appealed a judge’s ruling that had allowed the defendant to be released with a GPS monitor ahead of his trial.
In response, his lawyers, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, filed a motion seeking an immediate hearing to secure Smirnov’s release from custody. They argue that his presence at legal consultations contradicts any suggestion that he is a flight risk.
“During his custodial interview on February 14, Smirnov admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story about Businessperson 1,” the prosecution’s filing read, with Businessperson 1 referring to Hunter Biden.
DOJ prosecutors also argued Smirnov should be detained as he previously made plans to travel outside the U.S. to meet with “multiple foreign intelligence agencies,” that could relocate him outside the U.S.
The grand jury indictment against Smirnov, unsealed last week, dealt a blow to Republican efforts to use his fabricated evidence in an impeachment effort against President Biden. Republicans had cited Smirnov’s claims as proof of the Bidens’ involvement in alleged criminal activities.
The indictment revealed that Smirnov had been acting as an informant for the FBI for over a decade, providing information for criminal investigations, some of which turned out to be false. It further alleged that the false information originated from Russia’s intelligence services and was part of an ongoing effort to influence the 2024 presidential election.
Prosecutors disclosed that Smirnov admitted during interrogation that Russian intelligence officials were involved in spreading misinformation about Hunter Biden. Smirnov now faces charges of making false statements and creating fictitious records in connection with an FBI investigation, with a potential sentence of up to 25 years if convicted.
This latest arrest adds a new layer of complexity to an already contentious case, raising questions about the credibility of the evidence against the Bidens and the role of foreign actors in shaping domestic political narratives.
Fox News ferociously promoted the false allegations, which were a key part of the House Republicans’ unfounded effort to impeach Biden.
Sean Hannity’s Fox News program aired at least 85 segments in 2023 promoting the dubiously sourced allegation that Mykola Zlochevsky, the Ukrainian oligarch who controlled Burisma, paid a $5 million bribe to Biden.
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