Ex-FBI informant accused of lying about Biden family seeks to dismiss charges, citing decision in Trump documents case
The indicted ex-FBI informant Alexander Smirnov — who was charged by special counsel David Weiss with lying to the FBI about supposed Biden family corruption in Ukraine — is now using Cannon’s ruling to try to get his own case thrown out. Weiss is leading investigations into Hunter Biden and related matters.
Smirnov’s lawyers mentioned Cannon’s blockbuster decision in the second paragraph of a 21-page filing Monday, and cited her decision at least a dozen times. Their filing echoed many of the same longshot theories that Cannon endorsed for how special counsels need to be appointed and how their offices need to be funded.
“This present Indictment was brought by an unauthorized Special Counsel with funds that were not appropriated by Congress. The Court should thus dismiss the Indictment,” they wrote.
However, there’s at least one major difference between the Smith and Weiss probes.
Weiss was a presidentially nominated and Senate-confirmed US attorney when Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed him as a special counsel. Smith was neither, and wasn’t a Justice Department employee at the time of his appointment in 2022, which was part of the reason Cannon concluded that Smith’s appointment was improper.
It should also be noted that Cannon’s decision is an outlier. In recent years, federal judges in California, Delaware and Washington, DC, have rejected challenges on these same grounds that were brought against Weiss and former special counsel Robert Mueller.
Smirnov has pleaded not guilty to two felony charges related to his alleged lies to the FBI about the Bidens.
Smirnov's lawyers are arguing that Cannon's ruling, which questioned the appointment of a special counsel not Senate-confirmed or a department employee, should apply to Weiss' investigation as well, challenging the legality of his probe into Hunter Biden's affairs. The ongoing debate in politics surrounds the legitimacy of special counsels and their funding sources, with some arguing they should be appointed and funded through Congressional approval.
