A federal appeals court has denied a request to release a former FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, who is facing charges related to an alleged multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden's family. The California-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision to keep Smirnov in jail while he awaits trial, citing concerns about him being a flight risk.
Smirnov's lawyers had sought his release and even requested temporary release for him to undergo eye surgery for glaucoma, but both requests were denied by the appeals court. Smirnov was arrested in February on charges of fabricating a story about executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paying President Biden and Hunter Biden $5 million each in 2015, a claim that played a role in the Republican impeachment inquiry of President Biden.
