Ex-FBI informant Smirnov will remain in jail while he awaits trial, judge rules

By Cheri Mossburg and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) — A former FBI informant charged with falsely telling his handler that the Bidens accepted multimillion-dollar bribes will remain in jail while he awaits trial, a federal judge ruled Monday.

US District Judge Otis Wright said that “there is nothing garden variety” about the criminal case involving former informant Alexander Smirnov, whom Wright said has a “habit or practice of making false statements.”

“I have not changed my mind,” Wright said. “The defendant will be remanded pending trial.”

Smirnov, a 43-year-old dual US-Israeli citizen, is accused of telling his handler that a Ukrainian energy company paid $5 million in bribes each to President Joe Biden and his son Hunter – an allegation that prosecutors say was a complete fabrication.

“The records are fairly clear,” prosecutor Leo Wise said. Smirnov “made it all up.”

Smirnov has pleaded not guilty to the two charges he faces for allegedly lying to his handler and falsifying records.

A magistrate judge in Las Vegas, where Smirnov lives, had ordered that Smirnov could leave jail and be subject to GPS monitoring. Smirnov was re-arrested days later, however, while meeting with his attorneys.

Wright wrote in a court order unsealed Friday that he had authorized Smirnov’s second arrest because he had learned that Smirnov’s attorneys may be trying to “facilitate his absconding from the United States.”

In his order, Wright did not provide evidence or explain his thinking, and defense attorneys have lambasted the notion in court filings as “wrong.” The allegation was not raised at all during the hearing Monday, and Smirnov’s attorney told reporters after the hearing that it was a “dead issue.”

Prosecutors with special counsel David Weiss, who is overseeing the case, have argued that Smirnov’s supposed significant number of foreign contacts, and his access to millions of dollars, makes him a flight risk.

At the hearing Monday, Wise revealed that Smirnov was arrested at his lawyers’ office because he has nine firearms in his house, including an “assault weapon,” and that law enforcement believed it would be safer to execute the arrest while he was not home.

Wise revealed that Smirnov was arrested at his lawyers’ office because he has nine firearms in his house, including an “assault weapon,” and that law enforcement believed it would be safer to execute the arrest while he was not home.

Defense attorney David Chesnoff pushed back against prosecutors during the hearing Monday, saying that Smirnov’s foreign contacts were “at the direction of the government.” But when Wright questioned whether “all” of his contacts were at the government’s behest, Chesnoff appeared to walk back the statement.

Smirnov’s attorneys have also appealed his current detention to a higher court, saying that Wright overstepped his authority by signing a new arrest warrant and ordering Smirnov be brought to Los Angeles without a hearing.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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