The former FBI informant arrested on charges of giving false information about the Bidens’ business dealings in Ukraine has been arrested again — on the same charges.
Alexander Smirnov was arrested in Nevada on Thursday just two days after having been freed pre-trial by Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts on condition of GPS monitoring and the surrender of his two passports.
“Despite Judge Albregts’s prior ruling, denial of the stay request, and Mr. Smirnov’s prior release from custody, on the morning of February 22, 2024, Mr. Smirnov was arrested for a second time – on the same charges and based on the same indictment set forth … while at the undersigned counsel’s law office for meetings with counsel,” his lawyers wrote in a court filing.
According to a CNN report, the “unusual move” gives prosecutors another chance to persuade a different judge to keep Mr. Smirnov behind bars.
Mr. Smirnov’s defense lawyers say the new arrest warrant was signed by federal district Judge Otis Wright, who will oversee the criminal case out of California.
In a court filing Thursday, his lawyers blasted the Justice Department for not mentioning “any second, then-unserved arrest warrant for Mr. Smirnov based on the same charges.”
Mr. Smirnov is accused of falsely telling his FBI handler that executives with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid President Biden and his son Hunter $5 million each around 2015.
The Biden administration’s Justice Department argued in court papers filed with Judge Wright on Wednesday that Mr. Smirnov, who also is an Israeli citizen, is a flight risk because he had plans to travel outside the U.S. to meet with “multiple foreign intelligence agencies” and also received information from Russian intelligence.
The department also accused Mr. Smirnov of lying about his available assets, saying he has access to more than $6 million in liquid funds that would let him “live comfortably” overseas.
“The fact that Smirnov misrepresented his assets alone should cause Smirnov to be detained because it shows that, at the first opportunity, he did not provide true and complete information to Pretrial Services,” prosecutors wrote.
“No condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of the Smirnov as required,” the prosecutors wrote.
Victor Morton
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