A longstanding FBI informant, accused of orchestrating a fabricated multi-million dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, has been re-arrested after a judge permitted his release, according to attorneys representing the man.

Alexander Smirnov, a 43-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen who served as an FBI source for more than a decade, faced an emergency motion filed by his lawyers in Nevada’s federal court. They asserted that Smirnov was arrested for the second time on identical charges while at their law office for meetings with counsel. The arrest was reportedly made under “bizarre circumstances,” with the attorneys highlighting a lack of filings in the docket in California.

The new arrest warrant, issued by the Central District of California, followed federal prosecutors’ request to reconsider Smirnov’s release, made on Tuesday. In response, Smirnov’s legal team sought an immediate detention hearing to secure his release.

Click Here

Special counsel David Weiss, overseeing the criminal inquiry into Hunter Biden, had recently announced that a federal grand jury in California had indicted Smirnov on charges of false statements and obstruction. Smirnov was initially arrested at the Las Vegas international airport upon returning to the U.S. from overseas.

The charges against Smirnov relate to his claims during the 2020 election cycle, where he asserted that executives at Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company employing Hunter Biden, paid $5 million in bribes to the Bidens when Joe Biden was vice president. A conviction on these charges could result in a 25-year prison sentence.

Click Here

Despite prosecutors’ arguments in favor of detention pending trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts of Nevada allowed Smirnov’s release on electronic GPS monitoring on Tuesday. Smirnov’s legal team emphasized that their client had not left Clarke County, Nevada, since his release and pointed out the contradiction between his attendance at a legal consultation meeting at his attorneys’ office and the notion that he poses a risk of flight. They highlighted the interference with Smirnov’s Sixth Amendment rights.