Los Angeles (AFP) - A former FBI informant charged with lying about US President Joe Biden and his son Hunter was denied bail by a judge Monday ahead of his trial.
Alexander Smirnov, 43, was first arrested two weeks ago and indicted for fabricating claims that Hunter Biden demanded multi-million-dollar bribes from Ukrainian firm Burisma -- on whose board he was serving at the time -- to protect it from an investigation when his father was US vice president.
He was released on bail at the time, but re-arrested last week on the same warrant, with his lawyers demanding his immediate release.
But at a hearing in Los Angeles on Monday, US District Judge Otis Wright said he was concerned Smirnov -- a dual US and Israeli national -- could jump bail.
"I am not satisfied that there are conditions... to ensure that you will not flee the jurisdiction," he said.
Federal prosecutors argued that Smirnov had a record of dishonesty and could not be trusted to return to court if allowed to go free.
The defendant has extensive contacts in Russia and elsewhere, they argued, and has "access to over $6 million in liquid funds -- more than enough money for him to live comfortably overseas for the rest of his life," court papers showed.
"He cannot be trusted," Assistant US Attorney Leo Wise told the court.
The grand jury indictment against Smirnov that was unsealed this month appears to undermine the impeachment effort against Joe Biden being put together by congressional Republicans, who had touted Smirnov's evidence as proof the Bidens were collectively involved in a criminal enterprise.
The claim that Hunter Biden leveraged his father's name for personal gain has been central to a Republican narrative, pushed heavily by ex-president Donald Trump, that Joe Biden is corrupt.
The indictment said that for at least a decade Smirnov was acting as a "confidential human source" for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, providing his handler with information to be used in criminal investigations, and that some of what he passed on was false.
A subsequent filing claimed that Russia's intelligence services were the root of the false information Smirnov had given to his FBI handler about the Bidens.
It also said that the efforts were not only historical, but continued and were an apparent effort to sway the 2024 presidential election.
"During his custodial interview on February 14, Smirnov admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story about (Hunter Biden)," prosecutors said last week.
Smirnov faces one charge of making a false statement, and one of creating a false and fictitious record, in his dealings with an FBI investigation.
