"Russian Contacts: FBI Informant's Lies about Bidens' Ties Revealed"

Prosecutors revealed that Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant charged with fabricating a bribery scheme involving Joe and Hunter Biden and a Ukrainian energy company, had recent and extensive contacts with officials affiliated with Russian intelligence. They urged a judge to keep him in custody, citing a serious risk of him fleeing overseas to avoid trial. Smirnov, who holds dual US-Israeli citizenship, is accused of falsely reporting that executives associated with Burisma paid the Bidens $5m each in 2015 or 2016, a claim central to Republican investigations and the House impeachment inquiry into Biden. Smirnov's defense attorneys are seeking his release while he awaits trial.