Former FBI informant accused of lying about Bidens' business dealings to be transferred to California
Alexander Smirnov is charged with lying about Burisma executives paying Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each around 2015 in an effort to impact the 2024 presidential election
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An ex-FBI informant accused of lying about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden's alleged business dealings with a Ukrainian energy company will be transferred to California, where he is expected to face a judge.
Alexander Smirnov, 43, has been ordered transferred to California where he will appear in court at 9 a.m. Monday local time. He was released by a Nevada judge earlier this week.
HUNTER BIDEN WAS PAID $100K A MONTH THROUGH CHINESE FIRM VENTURE, EX-ASSOCIATE TESTIFIED
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, center, leaves the courthouse on Tuesday in Las Vegas. Prosecutors say that Smirnov, who is charged with making up a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and a Ukrainian energy company, had contacts with Russian intelligence-affiliated officials. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
A California judge ordered him arrested again on Thursday after federal prosecutors argued Smirnov, who holds dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship, was a flight risk.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors said Smirnov peddled lies "that could impact U.S. elections" while asking a judge to keep him locked up ahead of trial on charges alleging he lied to the FBI about a phony multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving the Bidens and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
Prosecutors say Smirnov falsely told his handler that Burisma executives paid Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, $5 million each around 2015. The claim became central to the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FBI REPORTEDLY INVESTIGATING CONTROVERSIAL DEMOCRATIC MAYOR WHO SCHMOOZED WITH BIDEN LAST MONTH
President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for World Food Program USA)
However, federal prosecutors said Smirnov had only routine business dealings with the company starting in 2017 and made the bribery allegations after he "expressed bias" against then-presidential candidate Biden. Special Counsel David Weiss said Smirnov's untruths were made in an effort to impact the 2024 presidential election.
He is charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record. The charges were filed in Los Angeles.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Burisma Holdings headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine, in 2020. (Evgeniy Maloletka/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Smirnov was arrested Thursday at the law offices of his attorneys in downtown Las Vegas. Fox News Digital has reached out to Smirnov's lawyers.
Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.