LAS VEGAS– A former FBI informant accused of masterminding a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company had contacts with Russian intelligence officials, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Prosecutors revealed the alleged contact as they urged a Las Vegas judge to keep Alexander Smirnov behind bars as he awaits trial. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts allowed Smirnov to be released based on electronic GPS monitoring.
He is accused of falsely telling his FBI manager that executives from Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each around 2015 — a claim that became central to the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress.
Smirnov, 43, hid his face and did not speak to reporters Tuesday evening as he walked out of the courthouse with his lawyers and girlfriend by his side. He was wearing a GPS monitor on his left ankle and had changed into street clothes and out of the yellow prison garb he had worn in court.
Defense attorney David Chesnoff said he looks forward to defending Smirnov at trial.
According to prosecutors, after his arrest last week, Smirnov admitted in an interview that “officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in relaying a story” about Hunter Biden. They said Smirnov’s contacts with Russian officials were recent and extensive, and said Smirnov planned to meet with an official during an upcoming foreign trip.
The White House did not immediately comment Tuesday.
Prosecutors said Smirnov, who has dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship, falsely reported to the FBI in June 2020 that executives linked to Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden millions of dollars in 2015 or 2016.
But Smirnov only had routine business dealings with the company beginning in 2017 and made the bribery allegations after “expressing bias” against Joe Biden while he was a presidential candidate, prosecutors said.
He is accused of making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious file. The charges were filed in Los Angeles, where he lived for 16 years before moving to Las Vegas two years ago.
Smirnov’s claims have played a major role in Republican efforts in Congress to investigate the president and his family, and helped spur what is now a House impeachment inquiry into Biden. Democrats called for an end to the investigation after charges against Smirnov were filed last week, while Republicans distanced the probe from his claims and said they would “continue to follow the facts.”
Hunter Biden is expected to make a statement next week.
Burisma’s allegations became a flashpoint in Congress as Republicans investigating President Biden and his family demanded that the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the allegations. They acknowledged that they could not confirm whether the allegations were true.
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Whitehurst reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston contributed to this report.