A California man accused by prosecutors of lying to federal agents and filing fraudulent criminal charges against President Biden and his son Hunter is now facing trial New allegations of tax evasion From special counsel David Weiss, according to court records.
Alexander Smirnov was an FBI informant for nearly a decade, providing information to federal investigators that his defense attorneys claimed in court filings demonstrated “undivided, years-long loyalty to the United States.”
But Weiss — the Trump-appointed Delaware U.S. attorney who was hired during the Biden administration and later promoted to the role of special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland to continue the Hunter Biden investigation — filed the allegations in a February 2024 indictment. Alleges Smirnov illegally fabricated false claims FBI operatives made about Hunter and Mr Biden in 2020.
William T. Robles/AP
Smirnov was accused of lying to investigators after he told them that both Bidens had accepted $5 million from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. According to charging documents filed against him, the claims were “false, as the defendant knew”.
Smirnov, who court records say was born in Ukraine, pleaded not guilty to the charges and in court filings, his defense team accused prosecutors of “resulting from the rejection of Hunter Biden's plea offers.” “His client is accused of making allegations. He will remain in pre-trial detention pending trial.
On November 21, a few weeks before he was to go to trial on December 3, federal prosecutors in Weiss's office filed a lightly charged indictment against Smirnov in a separate case, alleging that he illegally embezzled millions of dollars from the IRS. Had hidden. In earnings between 2020 and 2022.
Court records allege that Smirnov spent the undeclared income on a Las Vegas apartment, a Bentley and paying off credit card debt. Prosecutors did not name the alleged source of the funds, but the dates and amounts of his payments from a single company identified as “Company 1” in their filings match with payments they allege were made to Smirnov in economic transformation. Technologies Corporation, which was named in court records filed in Smirnov's other case. The new allegations do not indicate any wrongdoing by Economic Transformation Technology Corporation. The new indictment says other income came from an unnamed individual.
“To conceal millions of dollars in income he received in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the defendants created and filed false Forms 1040, U.S. individual income tax returns, for himself and his domestic partner, which included false and fictitious income and expenses ,” the 27-page indictment filed last week says.
According to newly published court records, the judge overseeing Weiss's first case against Smirnov — District Court Judge Otis Wright — held a status conference Tuesday and delayed his upcoming trial on false statements charges until January. Did it.
Responding to the new tax allegations, Smirnov's attorney David Chesnoff told CBS News, “Mr. Smirnov intends to defend this case as vigorously as he has defended the case before.”
A spokesperson for Weiss declined to comment when contacted by CBS News.
Prosecutors alleged earlier this year that Smirnov's false claims against the Bidens were recounted in an FBI document known as FD 1023. Congressional Republicans previously pointed to the bribery allegations in that document as evidence of misdeeds and fought with the FBI to publicly release the document, which investigators now say contained fraudulent allegations.
Smirnov's lawyers have argued in court records that the case “smacks of political bias.” But prosecutors rejected this, writing this month that Smirnov “has never provided the government with any findings or evidence to this Court to support his baseless claims – in fact, there is no such evidence as the claims.” are baseless.”
In court records filed earlier this year, the special counsel said Smirnov told the FBI about contacts with foreign intelligence officials, “including Russian intelligence agencies, and that such contacts have occurred recently.” In their petition to the court, defense lawyers described the allegations of Russian ties as baseless.
Beyond the specific allegations at issue, law enforcement experts told CBS News earlier this year that growing questions about Smirnov's truthfulness should lead to an audit of every case in which he was involved. A CBS News investigation Reports published earlier this year revealed that serious doubts about Smirnov's credibility were raised nearly a decade ago.
The FBI declined to comment on the results of the CBS News investigation earlier this year.
Weiss secures conviction against Hunter Biden in Delaware illegal gun charges and a guilty plea on behalf of the president's son in a separate case in California in which Hunter Biden admitted tax fraudHe will be sentenced in both cases later this month.
The trial's sentencing and guilty plea were the result of a lengthy legal battle between Weiss's office and Hunter Biden's legal team, after which the initial plea and diversion agreement fell apart and was ultimately rejected by a federal judge in 2023.
The special counsel has faced criticism from members of Congress and whistleblowers over his handling of the Hunter Biden investigation.
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Contributed to this report.