A former FBI informant accused of lying about President Biden and his son Hunter’s dealings with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma will remain behind bars, a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled Monday.
Following a 40-minute hearing, U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II said he was concerned that Smirnov might flee while awaiting trial on charges of obstructing justice and lying to federal agents.
“I’m not satisfied that there are conditions or a combination of conditions that will establish or satisfy my concern that you will not flee the jurisdiction,” Wright said as Smirnov, wearing a tan jumpsuit and thick black glasses, sat beside his attorneys.
Lawyers for Smirnov pressed for his release and even offered to hire private security and rent a home in L.A. to address concerns that he could escape.
“I have not changed my mind,” Wright said at the end of the hearing. “This man will be remanded pending trial.”
Smirnov, 43, was charged Feb. 14 with falsely telling his longtime FBI handler that an executive at Burisma had arranged for payments of $5 million each to Biden and his son. Smirnov’s accusations, made public this summer by Republican lawmakers with the release of internal FBI records documenting his claims, have become a central element of the push to impeach Biden and tar his family with corruption allegations.
During the hearing Monday, Smirnov pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Federal agents arrested Smirnov Feb. 15 at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas as he was returning from overseas. He had planned to embark on a months-long international tour and meet with intelligence contacts before the criminal charges thwarted him.
Prosecutors repeatedly cited the danger of Smirnov fleeing the U.S. to escape prosecution and have argued that he should remain behind bars before trial. To bolster their case, prosecutors have revealed an unusual degree of detail about his covert work as an informant for the FBI, murky wealth and shadowy existence.
Smirnov was briefly released from custody last week after a federal magistrate judge in Las Vegas found that although he posed a flight risk, the court could impose sufficient conditions to ensure he would not flee.
“I understand the concern about foreign intelligence agencies potentially resettling Mr. Smirnov outside of the United States,” said the judge, Daniel Albregts, “but I think on some level that’s speculative as well because … I don’t know what Mr. Smirnov will be thought of in Russia, but my guess is at this stage he probably thinks that’s not the most attractive place to go either if he was in fact inclined to go hide somewhere.”
After being released, Smirnov was rearrested Thursday while at his lawyer’s office under a new warrant from Wright, the federal judge in Los Angeles overseeing the case. Wright suggested that defense attorneys wanted him free “likely to facilitate his absconding from the United States.”
Smirnov’s defense team, headed by veteran Las Vegas attorney David Z. Chesnoff, vehemently objected to the accusation that they were assisting their client in fleeing the country. The defense filed an emergency petition last week with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that Wright had no authority to order Smirnov’s rearrest and transfer to L.A. The defense team also sought to have the case reassigned to another judge, accusing Wright of “biased and prejudicial statements.”
Late Sunday, the 9th Circuit denied Smirnov’s petition in full, clearing the way for the hearing Monday morning for Wright to evaluate whether Smirnov should remain in custody.
Shortly before the hearing, Smirnov’s attorneys proposed a variety of conditions for him to be released before trial, including house arrest; the appointment of a third party over his bank accounts; and a guarantee from the Israeli consulate in L.A. that they would not reissue another passport to Smirnov. Prosecutors had pointed to Smirnov’s ease of getting a new passport from Israel, where he is also a citizen, which could facilitate his escape.
