The former FBI informant who has been charged with falsely stating that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden accepted a bribe allegedly has ties to "high-level" Russian intelligence officials.

Alexander Smirnov was hit with felony charges last week, accused of making false statements and manufacturing false records concerning the Bidens' business dealings in Ukraine. Documents filed in court by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday argue that Smirnov should remain behind bars pending his trial due to "extensive foreign ties" that include contact with "Russian intelligence agencies."

The DOJ filing states that Smirnov recently met with someone he "described as a high-ranking member of a specific Russian foreign intelligence service" and had connections to multiple Russian officials and a person involved in "carrying out assassination efforts in a third-party country."

The Context

As a "confidential human source" in June 2020, Smirnov claimed executives at Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid the Bidens "$5 million each" in exchange for favors from Joe Biden during his term as vice president. The claim was at the heart of the impeachment inquiry that House Republicans launched against the president last year.