LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former FBI informant accused of fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family will appear in federal court in California on Monday as a judge considers whether he should remain behind bars while awaiting sentencing. judgment.
Special counsel David Weiss’ office is pressing U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II to keep Alexander Smirnov in prison, arguing that the man who claims ties to Russian intelligence is likely to flee the country.
Last week, a different judge released Smirnov from jail thanks to electronic GPS monitoring, but Wright ordered the man arrested again after prosecutors asked to reconsider Smirnov’s detention. Wright said in a written order that efforts by Smirnov’s lawyers to free him “would likely facilitate his escape from the United States.”
In an emergency petition to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Smirnov’s attorneys said Wright did not have the authority to order Smirnov to be arrested again. The defense also criticized what it described as “biased and prejudicial statements” from Wright, suggesting that Smirnov’s lawyers were acting improperly in advocating for his release.
Smirnov is accused of falsely telling his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid President Biden and hunter biden $5 million each around 2015. The claim became central to the Republican impeachment inquiry into President Biden in Congress.
In urging the judge to keep Smirnov locked up, prosecutors said the man informed the FBI that he had had contact with Officials affiliated with Russian intelligence. Prosecutors wrote in court papers last week that Smirnov told investigators after his first arrest that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing him a story about Hunter Biden.
Smirnov, who has dual Israeli-American citizenship, is charged by the same Justice Department special counsel who brought separate gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden.
Smirnov has not pleaded guilty to the charges, but his lawyers have said they hope to defend him at trial. Defense attorneys have said in pushing for his release that he has no criminal record and has strong ties to the United States, including a long-time partner who lives in Las Vegas.
In his ruling last week freeing Smirnov for GPS monitoring, federal Judge Daniel Albregts in Las Vegas said he was concerned about his access to what prosecutors estimate is $6 million in funds, but noted that federal guidelines required him create “the least restrictive conditions.” ”Before his trial.
Smirnov had been an informant for more than a decade when he made the explosive allegations about the Bidens in June 2020, after “expressing bias” about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, prosecutors said. Smirnov only had routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017, according to court documents. No evidence has emerged that Joe Biden acted corruptly or accepted bribes in his current or previous role as vice president.
While his identity was not publicly known before the indictment, Smirnov’s claims have played a major role in the Republican effort in Congress to investigate the president and his family, and helped trigger what is now an impeachment inquiry. of the House against Biden. Republicans investigating the Bidens demanded that the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the unverified allegations, although they acknowledged they could not confirm whether they were true.
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Richer reported from Boston.