A former FBI informant accused He is scheduled to stand trial in April for allegedly lying to agents about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign.
Alexander Smirnov, 43, will face a jury trial before US District Judge Otis Wright in Los Angeles on April 23, according to court documents. Judge at Monday’s hearing He ordered that Smirnov be detained until the trial.
Federal prosecutors earlier this month charged Smirnov with making false statements and creating false and fictitious records. He pleaded not guilty to the announced charge. They allege in the indictment that he provided “false disparaging information to the FBI” about the Bidens, including promoting “a new false story after he said he met with Russian officials” during an interview with FBI agents in September 2023.
In a filing last week, prosecutors wrote that some of the information Smirnov shared about the Bidens came from it. “Officials linked to Russian intelligence”. They added that Smirnov was “actively perpetrating new lies that could influence the US election after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November.”
Some of Smirnov’s false allegations to the FBI involved executives associated with Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company Hunter Biden worked for, paying the Bidens $5 million each. Smirnov said the Burisma official told President Biden that it would take 10 years for investigators to find “illegal payments” based on the indictment.
House Republicans have based their impeachment inquiry against the president on Smirnov’s testimony to the FBI, though they have downplayed the charges against Smirnov.
Last week in Los Angeles Smirnov was re-arrested on charges After a federal judge in Las Vegas ordered his release with a GPS monitor. However, prosecutors warned that Smirnov was a flight risk and was “likely” to leave the United States.
Smirnov was initially arrested on charges at the Las Vegas airport after arriving on an international flight.
Sarah Fitzpatrick and Ryan J. Reilly contributed.