Russian intelligence passed on 'lies' about the Bidens, FBI informant claims

A former FBI informant, who has been charged with lying regarding the dealings of US President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in Ukraine, has told investigators that Russian intelligence officials had passed on that information to him.

The claims were made by the informant after his arrest, said the prosecutors in a new court filing on Tuesday (Feb 20), noting that the information was false.

Prosecutors also claimed that Alexander Smirnov has been “actively peddling new lies that could impact US elections” after he met with Russian spies late last year.

Smirnov has said that he has “extensive and extremely recent” contacts with foreign intelligence officials, said the prosecutors in the filing.

FBI officials said that he had claimed earlier about having longstanding and extensive contacts with Russian spies, which include individuals he said were command Russian assassins abroad or high-level intelligence officers.

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In the court filing, the federal prosecutors said that Alexander Smirnov accepted that he was arrested by "officials associated with Russian intelligence who were involved in passing a story" regarding President Biden's son, Hunter Biden.

FBI informant createsfalse and fictitious record of Bidens

Smirnov, who was an FBI informant, was arrested last week and has been facing charges of making false statements as well as for creating a false and fictitious record.

On Tuesday (Feb 20), he appeared in a federal court in Nevada for his detention hearing and the arguments from both sides were heard by Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Albregts, who then ordered that Smirnov be released on a personal recognizance bond.

The ruling was against the government which had appealed for the custody of Smirnov in the court.

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The prosecutors, in their detention memo, emphasised what they said were four "indisputable facts" which favoured his detention.

Smirnov, they said, "claims to have contacts with multiple foreign intelligence agencies". He was, as per his previous plans, gearing up toleavethe country justtwo days after the day he was arrestedto hold meetings with Russian intelligence officials, among others.

Prosecutors said that if the informant flees from the United States now, his foreign intelligence contacts can resettle him.

Prosecutors claimed that 43-year-old Smirnov has access to $6 million in "liquid funds," which was not disclosed to Pretrial Services.

(With inputs from agencies)