LAS VEGAS — A federal choose has denied the U.S. authorities’s request to launch from jail a former FBI informant who fabricated a narrative about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes that turned central to Republicans’ impeachment effort.
The choice, issued Wednesday by U.S. District Decide Otis Wright in Los Angeles, comes weeks after a brand new prosecutor was reassigned to the case and collectively filed a movement with Alexander Smirnov’s attorneys in search of his launch whereas he appeals his conviction.
Smirnov, 44, was sentenced to 6 years in jail in early January after pleading responsible in federal courtroom in Los Angeles to tax evasion and mendacity to the FBI concerning the phony bribery scheme, which was described by the earlier prosecutors assigned to the case as an effort to affect the end result of the 2020 presidential election.
His attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, informed The Related Press in a textual content that they’ll attraction the choose’s determination and “continue to advocate for Mr. Smirnov’s release.” The U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace in Los Angeles declined to remark.
Smirnov had been initially prosecuted by former Justice Division particular counsel David Weiss, who resigned in January days earlier than President Donald Trump returned to the White Home for his second time period.
Of their movement in search of Smirnov’s launch, the U.S. authorities mentioned it might overview its “theory of the case.” The movement additionally famous that Smirnov’s launch from custody would permit him to obtain correct therapy for well being points associated to his eyes.
Smirnov has been in custody since February 2024. He was arrested on the Las Vegas airport after returning to the U.S. from abroad.
Smirnov, a twin U.S. and Israeli citizen, falsely claimed to his FBI handler that round 2015, executives from the Ukrainian power firm Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million every.
The explosive declare in 2020 got here after Smirnov expressed “bias” about Biden as a presidential candidate, in accordance with prosecutors on the time. In actuality, investigators discovered Smirnov had solely routine enterprise dealings with Burisma beginning in 2017 — after Biden’s time period as vice chairman.
Authorities mentioned Smirnov’s false declare “set off a firestorm in Congress” when it resurfaced years later as a part of the Home impeachment inquiry into Biden, who gained the presidency over Trump in 2020. The Biden administration dismissed the impeachment effort as a “stunt.”
Weiss additionally introduced gun and tax prices in opposition to Hunter Biden, who was presupposed to be sentenced in December after being convicted at a trial within the gun case and pleading responsible to tax prices. However he was pardoned by his father, who mentioned he believed “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
