Former FBI Informant To Remain Jailed Ahead of Trial

(RepublicanView.org) – Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant recently arrested after he was accused of lying about the Biden family, will remain in jail pending trial after he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Smirnov originally faced felony charges while working as a source for the FBI. He was accused of falsifying information about business dealings between President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, with an energy company in Ukraine. Those claims have since been heavily quoted by Republicans pursuing an impeachment against Biden.

The allegedly false statements were made in 2020 when Biden was still campaigning for the presidency. He also told an agent with the FBI in 2017 that a call between him and the owner of Ukrainian energy corporation Burisma revealed the Bidens’ corrupt business dealings. He later claimed company executives hired Hunter to protect them “from all kinds of problems” through his dad, who was serving as former President Barack Obama’s vice president at the time.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) originally publicized allegations of the Bidens pressuring an oligarch in Ukraine to send them a payment of $10 million. Republicans in the House and Senate, as well as conservative publications, ran with the news. However, the FBI alleges that the claims were unverified when they went public.

James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, says the charges against Smirnov do not harm their impeachment inquiry of the president. He said the investigation that has ensued uncovered testimonies from witness and bank statement records have backed their claims of corruption.

Smirnov had originally been released from jail on February 22. However, he was arrested again just two days later with a warrant signed by a judge in California. His legal team responded with an emergency motion with the same judge who originally ordered authorities to release him.

Judge Wright published an order protected under seal for Smirnov to remain behind bars while the trial was pending. However, he did not set a date for the trial.