A former FBI informant accused of fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and a Ukrainian energy company that had contacts with Russian intelligence officials, prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday. Prosecutors revealed the alleged contact as they urged a judge to keep Alexander Smirnov in custody while he awaits trial. He is charged with falsely reporting to the FBI in June 2020 that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016. The allegation has been central to the Republican impeachment investigation in Congress.
Alexander Smirnov admitted that “officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story” about Hunter Biden
Smirnov is scheduled to appear in court later Tuesday in Las Vegas. He has been detained at a facility in rural Pahrump, about an hour’s drive west of Las Vegas, since his arrest last week at the airport while returning from overseas.
Defense attorneys David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld said in a statement ahead of the hearing that they wanted Smirnov released while he awaits trial “so he can effectively fight the power of the government.”
Prosecutors claim that in an interview before his arrest last week, Smirnov admitted that “officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story” about Hunter Biden. They said Smirnov had recent and extensive contacts with Russian officials, and that he planned to meet with one of them during an upcoming overseas trip.
According to them, Smirnov has had numerous contacts with someone he describes as the “son of a former high-ranking government official” and “someone with ties to a particular Russian intelligence service.” They said there is a serious risk that Smirnov will flee overseas to avoid trial.
The White House did not immediately respond to the claims in Tuesday’s court filing.
Smirnov’s allegations have been central to the Republican effort in Congress to investigate the president and his family
Prosecutors say Smirnov, who has dual US-Israeli citizenship, falsely reported to the FBI in June 2020 that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016.
Smirnov had only routine business dealings with the company beginning in 2017 and made the bribery allegations after he “expressed bias” against Joe Biden while he was a presidential candidate, according to court documents. He has been charged with making a false statement and creating a fictitious record. The charges were filed in Los Angeles, where he had lived for 16 years before moving to Las Vegas two years ago.
Smirnov’s allegations have been central to the Republican effort in Congress to investigate the president and his family, sparking what is now a House impeachment investigation into Biden. Democrats demanded an end to the investigation after the indictment was issued last week, while Republicans distanced the investigation from Smirnov’s claims and stated that they would continue to “follow the facts.”
Hunter Biden is expected to give a deposition next week.
The Burisma allegations became a flashpoint in Congress, as Republicans investigating President Biden and his family demanded that the FBI release the unredacted form containing the allegations. They acknowledged that they couldn’t confirm whether the allegations were true.