The trial of Alexander Smirnov, the former FBI informant charged with making false statements related to Joe Biden and Hunter Biden’s business relationships in Ukraine, comes just weeks after the 2024 presidential election. It has been postponed until early December.
Smirnov’s trial was scheduled to begin April 23 in Los Angeles, but special prosecutor David Weiss and Smirnov’s attorneys filed a joint stipulation motion last week asking for additional time to prepare for trial.
Mr. Smirnov’s lawyers said that not being given time “will deny him the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation, taking into account the exercise of due diligence.”
The motion also pointed to the need for additional time to disclose confidential material and the need to pass confidential procedures legislation.
FBI informant indicted for giving false information about Hunter Biden in 2020
President Biden and his son Hunter. (Getty Images)
United States District Judge Otis Wright, who is presiding over the case, granted the request.
Mr. Smirnov’s trial is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. on December 3.
Weiss alleged in February that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were paid millions of dollars in exchange for their help in firing a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings at the time. Smirnov, 43, was charged. Hunter Biden was a member of the company’s board of directors when Shokin was removed from his post.
Judge rules no bail for FBI informant accused of lying about business relationship with Biden
Prosecutors accused Mr. Smirnov of spreading lies “that could influence the U.S. election,” saying he lied about a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme allegedly involving the Biden family and Burisma Holdings. emphasized the suspicion.
Prosecutors allege that Smirnov falsely told representatives that Burisma executives had paid $5 million each to Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter around 2015.
Mr. Smirnov has pleaded not guilty to making false statements. He is being held without bail after a judge denied his request for release.
Wright agreed with prosecutors who argued that Smirnov was a high flight risk and ordered him to remain in custody ahead of his trial in April. It is unclear whether Mr. Smirnov will remain in detention until December.
The indictment says Smirnov provided “false and derogatory information” to the FBI despite “repeated warnings that he must provide truthful information and not fabricate evidence.” .
According to the indictment, Smirnov told FBI agents in March 2017 about Burisma’s potential acquisition of a U.S. company and an initial public offering (IPO) on a U.S.-based stock exchange. He said he had spoken to the owner of the store on the phone.
Hunter Biden arrives at the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. House Office Building for a private deposition in Washington, DC, on February 28, 2024. (Countess Jemal/Getty Images, Parliamentary Integrity Project)
Mr. Smirnov, who reported the conversation to FBI agents, said that Hunter Biden was a director of Burisma, but this was publicly known.
Smirnov is accused of giving his first statement in June 2020 about two meetings Smirnov had four to five years ago, in which Burisma executives told him that Hunter “I hired him to protect me from certain types of crimes,” he is said to have admitted. There is a problem. ”
During the meeting, Smirnov said the executives had paid the Bidens $5 million each while Joe Biden was still in office, according to the indictment. According to the indictment, Smirnov was paid by the Bidens to conduct a criminal investigation into Burisma by then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, which was conducted by Hunter Biden with the help of his father. He is said to have falsely claimed that he was there to take charge of the matter.
Biden allegedly ‘forced’ to pay millions of dollars to Burisma CEO to help fire Ukrainian prosecutor: FBI form
The indictment alleges that this information, provided by Mr. Smirnov in June 2020, was fabricated. Prosecutors say Mr. Smirnov had contacts with Burisma executives in 2017, when Joe Biden was out of public office and incapable of influencing U.S. policy, and in February 2016 when he was appointed as Ukraine’s prosecutor general. This was after he was fired.
According to the indictment, Smirnov changed his “routine and non-routine” business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later expressed bias against Joe Biden and his presidential candidacy. -Claims that the bribery charges against Mr. Biden have been changed.
Smirnov repeated some of the false claims in a September 2023 interview with FBI agents, claiming he had met with Russian officials, before changing other information and telling new false stories. He has been accused of promoting it.
If convicted, Smirnov could face up to 25 years in prison.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was investigating Burisma, where Hunter Biden worked. (Getty Images)
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley last summer released a document (FD-1023, dated June 30, 2020) in which the FBI explicitly detailed the details provided by classified intelligence. We were contacted by a whistleblower who claimed to have a form). Sources allege that Biden engaged in a multimillion-dollar conspiracy with foreigners during his time as vice president in exchange for influence over policy decisions.
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The same source told Fox News Digital that the confidential source had been used by the FBI “for at least several years” dating back to the Obama administration before the FD-1023 form was filed, and was “determined to be highly reliable” by the FBI. “It was,” he said.
House Republicans have asked the FBI to hand over the documents, but FBI Director Christopher Wray last summer rejected requests from Mr. Comer and Mr. Grassley to release them. The reason was that the FBI “argued that it would jeopardize the safety of what they claimed was a confidential source.” He is extremely valuable to the FBI. ”
Mr. Wray risked being charged with contempt of Congress and ultimately brought the FD-1023 form to the Capitol so that House members could review it in a secure location.
The contents of the document were first reported by Fox News Digital.
The FD-1023 form is used by FBI agents to record unconfirmed reports from confidential sources. This form is used to document information conveyed to FBI agents, but recording it does not allow the FBI to verify or compare the information with other information known to the FBI. There is nothing to do.
Comer said the FBI’s FD-1023 form is not used in presidential impeachment investigations.
