Prosecutors push to send FBI source accused of lying about Bidens back to jail

Prosecutors are asking a federal judge to reconsider a magistrate judge’s decision to free a former FBI source facing charges for falsely claiming that Joe Biden accepted a bribe from a Ukrainian businessperson.

Justice Department attorneys say the former source, Alexander Smirnov, has reported extensive contacts with high-level Russian intelligence operatives and could use those alleged connections to flee justice if allowed to remain out of custody.

Prosecutors working for David Weiss, the special counsel probing issues related to the president’s son Hunter, obtained an indictment of Smirnov last week on charges of making false statements to the FBI and obstruction of justice. Smirnov was arrested at the Las Vegas airport last week as he returned from a trip abroad, and the Justice Department indicated he had another lengthy foreign trip planned just days from now.

Weiss’ team contends that Smirnov’s alleged lies, weak ties to the Las Vegas area and ready access to millions of dollars in assets make him a threat to attempt an escape. They also note that he holds Israeli citizenship and could use it to obtain a new passport and flee.

Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts in Las Vegas rejected the department’s position on Tuesday, ordering Smirnov released with GPS monitoring. The case is politically explosive: House Republicans have relied on Smirnov’s allegations to fuel their ongoing drive to impeach Biden. Former President Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee to face Biden in the fall, has eagerly amplified those allegations.

Now, the government suggests Smirnov’s claims may have been initiated and fomented by Russian propagandists seeking to damage a political adversary.

Though the Justice Department describes Smirnov as untrustworthy, it nevertheless repeatedly relies on his own self-reported contacts with Russian officials to make the case for his pretrial detention. In their motion, prosecutors reference “declassified” summaries of Smirnov’s reported contacts with those high-level Russian intelligence officials. It’s unclear if the government has independently confirmed those contacts, but typically the sources and methods used by the intelligence community are among its most closely guarded secrets.

Under federal court rules, the government’s appeal of the release order goes to the district court judge assigned to the underlying criminal case, Otis Wright II. Wright, a Los Angeles-based appointee of George W. Bush, is required to consider the matter anew and not defer to the judgment of the magistrate.

Defense attorneys for Smirnov did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. In court filings Tuesday, they argued that he has ties to Nevada, and that prosecutors’ claims he withheld details about his finances were inaccurate.

Hunter Biden on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma as a million per year employee
Hunter Biden never visited Ukraine for company business during his five year tenure

By Polina Ivanova, Maria Tsvetkova, Ilya Zhegulev and Luke Baker
October 18, 2019, reuters,com Updated 4 years ago,

[1/8] FILE PHOTO: In this file photo, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden attend an NCAA basketball game between Georgetown University and Duke University in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2010. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

KIEV (Reuters) - During his time on the board of one of Ukraine’s largest natural gas companies, Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, was regarded as a helpful non-executive director with a powerful name, according to people familiar with Biden’s role at the company.

Biden’s role at Burisma Holdings Ltd has come under intense scrutiny following unsupported accusations by U.S. President Donald Trump that Joe Biden improperly tried to help his son’s business interests in Ukraine.

Interviews with more than a dozen people, including executives and former prosecutors in Ukraine, paint a picture of a director who provided advice on legal issues, corporate finance and strategy during a five-year term on the board, which ended in April of this year.

Biden never visited Ukraine for company business during that time, according to three of the people. They also said that his presence on the board didn’t protect the company from its most serious challenge: a series of criminal investigations launched by Ukrainian authorities against its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, a multimillionaire former minister of ecology and natural resources.

The allegations concern tax violations, money-laundering and licences given to Burisma during the period where Zlochevsky was a minister.

Hunter Biden, 49 years old, has denied wrongdoing. In a public statement on Oct 13, his lawyer George Mesires said: “Despite extensive scrutiny, at no time has any law enforcement agency, either domestic or foreign, alleged that Hunter engaged in wrongdoing at any point during his five-year term.”

In an interview with ABC News aired Tuesday, Hunter Biden said in retrospect it may have been poor judgment to join Burisma’s board while his father was vice president, but added: “Did I make a mistake based upon some ethical lapse? Absolutely not.”

Biden, in the interview added that he didn’t discuss his business dealings in Ukraine with his father, other than one brief exchange in which his father told him “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

A lawyer for Hunter Biden didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Joe Biden has also denied any wrongdoing, saying he called for the removal of then-chief prosecutor Viktor Shokin in 2016 because of his ineffectiveness in tackling corruption in Ukraine, a widespread problem that both the United States and the European Union had long highlighted.

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