President Biden/Image manipulation, Reuters
The US authorities have again arrested the Israeli-American man of mystery, Alex ("Alexander") Smirnov, a former FBI informant, accused of providing false information, which is at the center of the impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden. An indictment against Smirnov has been filed in California, and he was arrested on February 14 upon landing in his hometown of Las Vegas, where he returned from another one of his frequent business trips abroad.
However, a judge in the city agreed with his defense attorneys, and released him to house arrest with an electronic handcuff.
The prosecutors were urged to appeal the decision on the grounds that there was considerable fear that he would escape or disrupt the court proceedings, and Smirnov was arrested again, as mentioned, when he arrived on Thursday to meet the lawyers at their office in downtown Las Vegas.
The angry District Judge Otis Wright, from the Federal District Court in Los Angeles, who ordered the re-arrest of Smirnov, stated that "it was brought to the attention of the court that the accused petitioned for an emergency hearing in Las Vegas in the state of Nevada to arrange his release, apparently to allow him to leave the United States United States".
He criticized the decision of Judge Daniel Alberts in Las Vegas to release, while adding emphatically that according to the arrest warrant he himself issued for him in the California court, Smirnov was supposed to be brought without delay, to him, to his court - in Los Angeles.
He ordered that on Monday at 09:00, that would be the case, and to avoid misunderstandings again, he added a note to the Federal Prisoner Escort Unit that he would not accept any deviation from this order.
The indictment against Smirnov was filed by special counsel David Weiss, once the attorney general of the state of Delaware, who was appointed by the Trump administration to manage the prosecution against Hunter Biden.
Smirnov, who served for more than a decade, on a daily basis, as an informant for the FBI, is accused of falsely reporting to his operator in Seattle that executives from the Ukrainian energy company "Borisma" paid Biden, as vice president in the Obama administration, and his son Hunter Biden, five million dollars, each One, around 2015. This claim was central to the Republican impeachment investigation of President Biden in Congress.
This week, in court in Las Vegas, the prosecutor claimed that Smirnov's actions were motivated by political motives and he referred to the indictment in which quotes from his statements to his handler at the FBI are given.
"Or maybe the defense attorney is referring to us when he says that the indictment is motivated by political motives?", wondered the prosecutor, "That would certainly be strange. We are prosecuting Hunter Biden on charges of tax offenses and weapons offenses, and then lawyers make the unfounded claim that we are working at the direction of former President Trump And Republicans in Congress, even though they can't point to why or how."
The judge in Las Vegas did not address these claims.
"While it is possible to debate the politics at the base of the case, or the danger to our system as a whole or to free elections, or some of these issues, and while these may be issues that are ripe for intelligent discussion, yes, they are not matters that a court considers when considering a release," she noted.
Biden Jr./Reuters
In 2020, the FBI conducted an investigation into the allegations against Smirnov and eventually the case was closed.
In August 2023, the case was opened again for a comprehensive investigation that gave rise to the indictment.
Smirnov's lawyers continue to fight for his release.
They claim that there is no chance that he will escape to Russia after the indictment turns out that he was in the service of the United States and its connections in Ukraine.
They filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that the district judge had no authority to re-arrest him and send the case to Los Angeles.
Smirnov has yet to formally plead guilty to the charges, but his lawyers said he is innocent and they expect to defend him at trial. .
There is no chance he will escape to Russia.
The Kremlin in Moscow/ShutterStock
Little is known about the 43-year-old Smirnov.
An investigation by the New York Times reveals that he has no presence at all on social networks.
It is known that he holds Israeli and American passports which he had to surrender this week as part of the conditions of his release.
His place of birth is unknown.
His cousin, Lenor Shafer, who lives in Florida, told the court that for a period of time in his childhood they lived in Ukraine when it was part of the USSR, hence his command of Russian. She said that they both grew up in Israel and he speaks fluent Hebrew. About two years ago he moved to Las Vegas, where he lives with his daughter His partner Diana Laverniuk, in an apartment she bought for about one million dollars out of the 2.6 million he transferred to her, and this after 16 years in which he lived in the prestigious artisan town of Laguna Beach, on the coast of Southern California. "He is a law-abiding American citizen, who pays taxes," she told the court. He suffers from a severe case of glaucoma, can barely see in both eyes and requires medication, sterile conditions and medical care." The couple's son, 39-year-old Nikolai Lavreniuk, a former Marine soldier, and today a government office worker, told the court that "Alex always keeps his word , his family is everything to him and he will not let them down by running away." The prosecutor claimed that "he is presented as being closely tied to America, but he is not.
His family members live in Israel, he doesn't have a house in his name here and he doesn't have a job here.
He only has his cousin in Florida, but this is not an indication of significant ties." He added that "as a dual citizen, he can arrange a new Israeli passport for himself after depositing his passport."
When Alex Smirnov left court in Las Vegas this week, bright orange sneakers stood out.
But he and his companions who were with him made sure to cover their faces.
As part of efforts to keep him in custody, prosecutors said Smirnov told investigators after his first arrest on February 14 that "factors associated with Russian intelligence were involved in relaying the story."
They said Smirnov's self-reported contact with Russian officials was recent and extensive, and they said he planned to meet with foreign intelligence officials during an upcoming trip abroad.
The office of special counsel David Weiss indicated Smirnov was a serious flight risk and that he had access to liquid funds. of between 3 and 6 million dollars - "more than enough money to live comfortably overseas for the rest of his life".
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