Ex-FBI informant charged with lying about Bidens must remain jailed, appeals court rules
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a bid to release from prison a former FBI informant accused of masterminding a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family.
Alexander Smirnov’s lawyers had urged the California-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court’s order that the man remain behind bars while he awaits trial.
But a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit said the lower court was correct in concluding that Smirnov is a flight risk and that there are no conditions of release that would reasonably ensure he appears in court.
The appeals court also denied Smirnov’s request for temporary release, which his lawyers had pushed for so he could undergo eye surgery for glaucoma.
Smirnov was arrested in February on charges that he falsely told his FBI manager that executives from 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 of President Biden in Congress. .
Smirnov has pleaded not guilty.
U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II in Los Angeles in February ordered Smirnov to remain jailed while he awaits trial, reversing another judge’s ruling that cleared him for GPS monitoring. Smirnov was arrested again at his law office in Las Vegas two days after the magistrate judge released him from custody.
Smirnov’s lawyers vowed on Wednesday to continue fighting for the man’s release. They can ask the full 9th Circuit to review the ruling or go straight to the Supreme Court.
Smirnov’s lawyers have noted that their client has no criminal history and argued that locking him up will be difficult for him to help his legal team prepare for trial. His lawyers said they believe “he should be free to effectively prepare his defense.”
“Our client was out of custody and working in our office on his defense when he was re-arrested and detained. He did not flee,” David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld said in an emailed statement.
In urging the judge to keep him in prison, prosecutors revealed that Smirnov reported to the FBI that he had extensive contact with officials linked to Russian intelligence, and alleged that such officials were involved in relaying a story to him about Hunter Biden.
Smirnov had been an informant for more than a decade when he made the explosive allegations about the Bidens in June 2020 after “expressing prejudice” about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, prosecutors said. According to court documents, Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma as of 2017.