LAS VEGAS (AP) — The U.S. government now wants a former FBI informant who fabricated a story about former President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes to be released from prison while he appeals his conviction, it was revealed Thursday in court records.
Alexander Smirnov, 44, was sentenced to six years in prison in early January after pleading guilty in Los Angeles federal court to tax evasion and lying to the FBI about the phony bribery scheme, which was described by prosecutors at the time as an effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Smirnov had been prosecuted by former Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who resigned in January just days before President Donald Trump returned to the White House for his second term. Smirnov’s case was reassigned Thursday to a new federal prosecutor, court records show, who jointly filed a motion the same day with Smirnov’s attorneys seeking his release.
In the motion, the U.S. government said it will review its “theory of the case.” The motion also notes that Smirnov’s release from custody would allow him to receive proper treatment for health issues related to his eyes.
Smirnov has been in custody since February 2024. He was arrested at the Las Vegas airport after returning to the U.S. from overseas.
A hearing on the motion was not immediately scheduled Thursday.
Smirnov, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, falsely claimed to his FBI handler that around 2015, executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million each.
The explosive claim in 2020 came after Smirnov expressed “bias” about Biden as a presidential candidate, according to prosecutors at the time. In reality, investigators found Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017 — after Biden’s term as vice president.
Authorities said Smirnov’s false claim “set off a firestorm in Congress” when it resurfaced years later as part of the House impeachment inquiry into Biden, who won the presidency over Trump in 2020. The Biden administration dismissed the impeachment effort as a “stunt.”
Weiss also brought gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden, who was supposed to be sentenced in December after being convicted at a trial in the gun case and pleading guilty to tax charges. But he was pardoned by his father, who said he believed “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
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