Ex-Informant Arrested Again, Caught in Another Lie about Bidens

(USNewsMag.com) – Ex-FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, 43, was re-arrested February 22nd in Las Vegas on a warrant issued in California for the same charges filed the first time he was arrested, that he allegedly lied about President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden’s alleged scheme involving the family’s foreign business dealings.

Smirnov was arrested and charged with two counts of making false statements to his FBI handler about the Biden’s each receiving $5 million from the Burisma energy company in Ukraine. House Republicans have used Smirnov’s allegations against the Biden family in their impeachment inquiry into the president.

Smirnov was re-arrested on February 22nd while meeting with his lawyers, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, two days after a Nevada judge released him before his trial. U.S. magistrate judge Daniel Albregts ordered Smirnov to stay in the area and released him with a GPS monitor after his attorneys argued he was not a flight risk because of his personal relationships in the United States and his lack of criminal history. However, a California judge ordered his re-arrest after federal prosecutors requested his release order be reconsidered, arguing Smirnov, who holds dual Israeli and U.S. citizenship, is a flight risk.

According to a statement from his attorneys, Smirnov was re-arrested although he was “planning on voluntarily appearing” at the federal court when required.

However, federal prosecutors who sought to have him detained said that the story about Hunter Biden was linked to people “associated with Russian intelligence.” They also claim he posed a flight risk because he had contacts with other foreign intelligence services. The prosecutors then argued his “new lies” could impact the November presidential election.

In an emergency petition filed with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Smirnov’s attorneys argued U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II did not have the authority to issue the warrant to have Smirnov re-arrested. However, the emergency petition was denied, and Smirnov was set to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom on February 26th.