The Department of Justice said he was reviewing a criminal case submitted against a former FBI informant who was punished for peddling a lie about former President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden and moved to the judge to release the man from prison immediately when his case was appealing.
Alexander Smirnov was sentenced to six years in prison in January after claiming to be guilty for lying to his FBI handler about the Biden family relationship with the Ukraine Energy Company – in addition to a series of unrelated tax fraud accusations.
Smirnov’s lies were then confiscated by House Republicans to support their efforts to impeach Joe Biden for claims that were not proven that he corruptly used his position as vice president in Obama’s government to benefit himself once outside the office.
“The United States intends to review the government’s theory of cases underlying the criminal sentence of the defendant,” Assistant Attorney General David Friedman said in a Thursday submission, not offering further explanation.
In this courtroom the defendant Sketch Alexander Smirnov spoke at the Federal Court in Los Angeles, February 26, 2024.
William T. Robles via AP
The case of Smirnov, brought by former special advisor David Weiss, who was previously a US lawyer who was appointed by Trump, accused him of collecting “fabrication” of Joe Biden and his son of receiving $ 5 million in bribes from the Energy Giant Ukraine Burisma. The indictment accused Smirnov of repeatedly changed his story about the alleged bribery scheme after meeting with senior members of the Russian intelligence service, in what Weiss described as a deliberate effort to influence the 2024 presidential election.
Thursday’s submission refers to the health problem reported by Smirnov present since his detention. His lawyer said he had suffered from chronic eye disease for more than a year and asked him to be released to receive treatment from a doctor in California.
President Joe Biden and Putra Hunter Biden stepped out of the bookstore while shopping at Nantucket, Mass., November 29, 2024.
Mandel and/AFP
The judge who watched his case, however, repeatedly rejected their efforts before his request for guilty, on the grounds he was at risk of flying from the United States based on his broad contact with foreign intelligence services abroad.
A DOJ spokesman refused to comment further about the government’s submission.