Ex-FBI informant re-arrested after initial release, attorneys claim

Attorneys representing an ex-FBI informant facing charges for allegedly lying to the FBI about the Biden family's dealings with Ukrainian energy firm Burisma claimed Thursday that he had been arrested a second time.

Special counsel David Weiss last week charged Alexander Smirnov, claiming he had provided false bribery allegations that were recorded in an FBI FD-1023 confidential human source document that became public last year. He was arrested at the airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, last Thursday and was released earlier this week, pending trial.

"On the morning of February 22, 2024, Mr. Smirnov was arrested for a second time — on the same charges and based on the same indictment," Smirnov attorney David Chesnoff claimed in a filing that Politico obtained. They have also sought a hearing to immediately address his second apparent arrest.

Prosecutors have claimed Smirnov is tied to Russian intelligence and is a flight risk, which his attorneys denied. A judge earlier this week permitted his release, though prosecutors have since asked another judge to reverse that decision.

While Smirnov's arrest and charge has prompted renewed scrutiny of the House Oversight Committee's impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, Committee Chairman James Comer, however, has indicated that his efforts are "not reliant on the FBI’s FD-1023."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.