Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
A federal judge ruled Monday that Alexander Smirnov must remain in custody ahead of a trial where the ex-informant is accused of lying to the FBI about Joe and Hunter Biden taking bribes.
Smirnov, 43, was arrested earlier this month on allegations he made up a story and passed it along to federal authorities about President Joe Biden and his son accepting bribes from businessmen in Ukraine—apparent falsehoods that became the basis of a Republican-led impeachment probe into the president.
Smirnov pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday, and U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II ruled that he must stay in jail due to fears he’d otherwise try to flee the country—perhaps to Russia, where he told federal agents has ties to the country’s intelligence service, or to Israel, where he has dual citizenship with the U.S.