Alleged Liar and Former Informant Heads Back to Jail

(TargetDailyNews.com) – Former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov was initially allowed out on bail pending his trial but is back in lock-up after prosecutors convinced the court that he was a flight risk.

David Weiss, Special Counsel, is the U.S. attorney who pressed an indictment against Smirnov for lying to U.S. investigators. Smirnov is accused of fabricating claims against President Joe Biden and his embattled son, Hunter Biden. Prosecutors claim Smirnov basically made up claims that both the elder and younger Biden were each paid $5 million in bribes by Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Hunter Biden once sat on the board of the company.

Smirnov, they allege, gave this “false information” to the FBI in 2020.

Last week Smirnov, 43, had a brief period of freedom after a Las Vegas judge allowed him out on bond but required the informant to wear a GPS tracker. However, prosecutors asked a Los Angeles federal judge to revoke his bond on the theory that Smirnov was a flight risk.

On February 26th, U.S. lawyers told the judge Smirnov “cannot be trusted,” and the judge, Otis Wright, agreed. He told the defendant there was “nothing garden-variety” about his case, and that he did not believe Smirnov’s promises that he would not flee the court’s jurisdiction. Smirnov pleaded not guilty to the two charges laid against him in the indictment.

Wright was also suspicious of Smirnov’s defense attorneys, writing that he believed they were asking for their client’s release in order to help him leave the U.S. Smirnov’s lawyers, naturally, disagreed, and told the judge he was in error. Last week Smirnov’s legal team tried to persuade the court to allow their client to stay out of jail before trial because, they said, his U.S. relationships and lack of a criminal record showed he was not a flight risk.

Smirnov’s lawyers claimed that someone described as his longtime “partner” could be responsible for looking after their defendant. Prosecutors did not buy that reasoning, pointing out that the woman in question had $3 million in the bank (money shared by her and Smirnov) and was not trustworthy.

After the court hearing on February 26th, Smirnov’s lawyer David Chesnoff said he was considering whether to appeal the latest order keeping his client in jail.