Ex-FBI informant accused of lying about Bidens told prosecutors he had Russian contacts

A former FBI informant accused of making false bribery claims about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter — which were widely publicized by Republicans — claimed to have been fed information by Russian intelligence, according to a court filing Tuesday.

In the memo, prosecutors portrayed the former informant, Alexander Smirnov, 43, as a serial liar incapable of telling the truth about even the most basic details of his own life. But Smirnov told federal investigators that “officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story” about Hunter Biden.

Those disclosures, including Smirnov’s unverifiable claim that he met with Russian intelligence officials as recently as three months ago, made him a flight risk and endangered national security, Justice Department officials said. Smirnov had been in custody in Las Vegas, where he has lived since 2022, since his arrest last week.

He was released from custody Tuesday on a personal recognizance bond after a detention hearing, said his lawyers, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld.

The memo describes Smirnov as a human hall of mirrors: He fed the FBI bogus information about the Bidens and misled prosecutors about his wealth.

“The misinformation he is spreading is not confined” to his false claims about the Bidens, wrote prosecutors working for David Weiss, the special counsel investigating Hunter Biden on tax and gun charges.

“He is actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November,” they added.

Last week, Weiss charged Smirnov with fabricating claims that Joe Biden and his son each sought $5 million bribes from a Ukrainian energy giant, Burisma, demanding the money to protect the company from an investigation by the country’s prosecutor general.

Those allegations, which prosecutors now say were brazen fabrications motivated by Smirnov’s animosity toward the president, were widely promoted by congressional Republicans who cited them as a justification for their now-stalled effort to impeach Biden.

Also Tuesday, Hunter Biden’s legal team filed motions in federal court arguing that the arrest of Smirnov — while unrelated to the charges Biden faces — has tainted the public’s perception of their client, making fair trials impossible.

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