Former FBI informant Alexander SmirnovWho was it accused A judge is scheduled to appear in California federal court Monday as a judge considers whether to jail him for allegedly submitting false allegations to the bureau about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign.
A federal judge in California last week He ordered Smirnov to be arrested again, 43, after federal prosecutors told a judge he “probably” planned to leave the United States. The order comes after Smirnov was arrested by federal authorities at the Las Vegas airport this month while returning from an international flight. Last week, a federal judge in Nevada ordered Smirnov to be released with a GPS monitor, prompting a judge in California, where the case against Smirnov was brought, to rule.
“It has been brought to the attention of this Court that counsel for the defendant has requested an emergency hearing in the District of Nevada to arrange for the release of the defendant Smirnov, which would likely enable him to flee the United States,” U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright he wrote by order on Friday without stamps. Bolding his ruling for emphasis, the judge wrote that he “issued a warrant of arrest indicating that the defendant must be brought to trial immediately upon arrest. this Court” for a hearing in a Los Angeles courtroom on Monday.
Prosecutors said in a filing last week that some of the information Smirnov, who has worked as a confidential FBI source since 2010, shared about the Bidens came from there. “Officials linked to Russian intelligence”. They added that Smirnov was “actively perpetrating new lies that could affect the US election after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November.”
Prosecutors with the office of special counsel David Weiss said Smirnov “provided false and derogatory information to the FBI” about the Bidens, including making false claims that he paid $5 million each to officials of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, where Hunter Biden worked. it took investigators 10 years to trace the alleged payments.
House Republicans did Smirnov’s allegations against the Bidens It is the centerpiece of the impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden. Although GOP leaders have repeatedly pointed to Smirnov’s baseless allegations, they have since his indictment sought to downplay the importance of his false allegations to their own investigation.
Weiss’ office did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on Monday’s hearing.
Smirnov’s attorneys, David Z. Chesnoff and Richard A. Schonfeld, declined to comment to NBC News about the hearing. They previously said that they “advocate Mr. Smirnov’s release at both federal levels [district] trial court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.”
Tom Winter and Andrew Blankstein contributed.