{"id":2182662,"date":"2024-02-21T07:59:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T12:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/david-weisss-latest-motion-shows-by-protecting-the-bidens-he-compromised-national-security\/"},"modified":"2024-02-21T11:14:01","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T16:14:01","slug":"david-weisss-latest-motion-shows-by-protecting-the-bidens-he-compromised-national-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/david-weisss-latest-motion-shows-by-protecting-the-bidens-he-compromised-national-security\/","title":{"rendered":"David Weiss&#8217;s recent motion reveals that his actions to safeguard the Bidens have jeopardized national security"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdavid-weisss-latest-motion-shows-by-protecting-the-bidens-he-compromised-national-security%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2182662&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><!--?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?--><!--?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?--><!--?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?--><!--?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?--><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>A federal judge <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nvd.167064\/gov.uscourts.nvd.167064.15.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rejected<\/a> Special Counsel\u200c David Weiss\u2019s request that <a title=\"Wray Declines to Confirm FBI\u2019s Use of Geolocation Data to Track Capitol Rioters But Says It \u2018Would Not Surprise Me\u2019\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wray-declines-to-confirm-fbis-use-of-geolocation-data-to-track-capitol-rioters-but-says-it-would-not-surprise-me\/\">confidential human source<\/a> Alexander Smirnov remain jailed pending \u200btrial on \u2064charges that he lied \u2062to the FBI.\u200d While the\u200b special \u200dcounsel\u2019s office lost its motion to detain Smirnov, \u200dWeiss likely viewed\u200b the defeat as\u2064 a public relations\u2062 victory, given \u200bthe\u2063 gratuitous \u200cdetails he included in the memorandum filed with the court.<\/p>\n<p>Weiss would be wrong, however,\u2062 to\u200d consider anything about his office\u2019s prosecution of\u200d Smirnov as a win. Rather,\u2064 Tuesday\u2019s court filing \u2014 \u2062if accurate \u2014 renders Weiss\u2019s incompetence even more \u200bconsequential.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-726963915\" class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-5bb4e8243c5edde013b051ba048126f3\" class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-5bb4e8243c5edde013b051ba048126f3 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\"><\/div>\n<p>Last week, news broke that Weiss had\u200c charged Smirnov in a two-count indictment with making false statements to the FBI \u200band creating a false\u200c and fictitious record. The \u2063charges\u2062 stem from Smirnov\u2019s alleged lies to the FBI in\u2063 June of 2020 \u2062concerning conversations Smirnov claims he had in 2015-2016 and then again\u2063 in 2017 with various executives of \u2063the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.<\/p>\n<p>Among other \u200cthings,\u200d Smirnov claimed Burisma executives said Hunter and Joe Biden \u200cpressured them to \u200bpay \u2062them $5 million each in bribes to\u200c ensure the Ukrainian \u200bprosecutor\u2019s office left \u2062Burisma untouched.\u2064 The \u2062handler memorialized Smirnov\u2019s reporting in an FD-1023, which Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, later released\u200d to the public after whistleblowers suggested the \u200dDelaware U.S. attorney\u2019s office\u2063 had failed to \u200dinvestigate the CHS\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n<p>In indicting Smirnov, Weiss confirmed his office\u200b had botched the Hunter Biden investigation by ignoring the FD-1023 for nearly three years \u2014 and then only investigating Smirnov\u2019s \u200cclaims\u200b after Grassley made the document public. Specifically, according to Thursday\u2019s indictment, the FBI did not question\u200c Smirnov about his reporting until Sept. 27, \u200b2023.<\/p>\n<p>As I <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/02\/16\/special-counsel-indictment-looks-just-as-bad-for-david-weiss-as-the-charged-fbi-informant\/\">wrote<\/a> \u2064at the time, the \u201ctimeline confirms\u200b the\u200c incompetence of \u2064Weiss in handling the investigation into Hunter Biden \u2064because \u200cin\u200c October\u2064 2020, Weiss\u2019s Delaware \u2062office received \u2018a substantive \u2064briefing\u2019\u2063 concerning the\u200c FD-1023 from the Pittsburgh\u2063 U.S. attorney\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-111e7df775bb58cbf93eb11d9afd5a44\" class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-111e7df775bb58cbf93eb11d9afd5a44 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\"><\/div>\n<p>Former Attorney General William Barr had tasked Pittsburgh \u2062with \u200bscreening information related to Ukraine, which agents \u200cdid with the\u200d FD-1023. Among other things,\u2062 the \u200cPennsylvania-based office obtained travel records of the confidential human source (CHS)\u2063 and\u200c communicated with the \u200bCHS\u2019s handler, with the information obtained consistent with Smirnov\u2019s representations in the FD-1023. In \u2063screening the material, the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh, Scott Brady, also vetted the FD-1023 \u2063\u201cagainst known\u2064 sources of Russian disinformation,\u201d and found no\u2064 connection. Accordingly, Pittsburgh closed \u200bout its screening process and forwarded the\u2062 material to Delaware,\u200c recommending that \u200cWeiss\u2019s team investigate the allegations.<\/p>\n<p>U.S.\u2063 Attorney Weiss\u2019s team\u2062 must have \u2063done\u2064 nothing further, though, \u2063because not only did\u200d the FBI only recently question\u200b Smirnov, \u200bbut Smirnov continued to serve as a CHS for the FBI. That later \u2064point only became \u200dclear Tuesday when the special \u2064counsel\u2019s office filed a motion to keep Smirnov detained pending \u200btrial.<\/p>\n<p>In\u2063 Tuesday\u2019s memorandum\u2064 in support of detention, Weiss argued Smirnov was a \u2062flight risk, supporting that argument in part by highlighting\u2063 Smirnov\u2019s \u200cmany connections to foreign intelligence\u2063 services, including individuals in Russian intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>And how do we know about \u200cthose\u200c connections? Because Smirnov \u200creported the\u2063 contacts to his handler.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-8dfa2d174a70d5c177a04d30c07bb980\" class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-8dfa2d174a70d5c177a04d30c07bb980 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\"><\/div>\n<p>For instance, \u2064in October 2023, Smirnov reported numerous contacts with Russian Official 1, who\u2064 was described \u201cas \u200bthe son of a former high-ranking Russian government official.\u201d Smirnov apparently also claimed\u200b Russian\u200d Official 1 controlled \u201ctwo groups of \u200bindividuals\u2062 tasked with carrying out assassination efforts in a third-party \u200dcountry,\u201d as \u200bwell as \u201csomeone with ties \u2064to a\u2064 particular \u2064Russian intelligence service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smirnov also reported to his \u200dhandler a meeting in December 2023 with Russian\u200b Official 1, as well as a second meeting with Russian Official 2,\u2064 the latter of whom Smirnov \u201cdescribed \u2062as a <a title=\"Here Are Four Democrats Who Fueled Vaccine Skepticism While Trump Was In Office\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/here-are-four-democrats-who-fueled-vaccine-skepticism-while-trump-was-in-office\/\">high-ranking member<\/a> of a specific Russian foreign intelligence service.\u201d Smirnov further claimed that during this trip, he learned that\u2062 \u201cRussian Official\u200b 4,\u200b the head of a particular \u2063unit of \u2063a Russian Intelligence Service, ran an intelligence\u2062 operation at a \u2018club\u2019 located at a particular hotel.\u201d Smirnov told his handler that \u200d\u201cthe Russian Intelligence Service\u200c intercepted \u2064several \u200dcalls\u2062 placed \u2062by prominent U.S. persons the Russian government may \u200buse\u200c as \u2018kompromat\u2019\u200c in \u200cthe \u200d2024 election\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Tuesday\u2019s \u200ccourt \u200dfiling, Special Counsel Weiss\u2019s office argued, \u201cSmirnov\u2019s\u2064 contacts with Russian officials who are affiliated with Russian intelligence services are not benign,\u201d\u200d because when the FBI finally got around to interviewing him \u2064in\u200b September 2023, Smirnov claimed he had seen video\u2064 footage of Hunter\u2063 Biden \u200bat the Russian-controlled hotel in Kiev. But Hunter had never traveled to Kiev, the motion stressed. This shows,\u2064 according to Weiss, that\u200c Smirnov is \u200cattempting to interfere\u2064 in\u200b the 2024 election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is actively peddling new \u200dlies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian \u200cintelligence officials in November,\u201d Weiss wrote \u2063in Tuesday\u2019s \u200cfiling \u2014 \u200ca not-so-subtle suggestion that Smirnov is taking\u200b part in \u200da Russian disinformation plot to interfere \u2063in \u2062the upcoming presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>If \u2062true, Weiss\u2019s incompetence left the man he would have us believe\u2062 is a Russian asset not\u200d just free \u2064in America,\u200c but working to interfere in our election and pushing who knows what other lies to the FBI. Further, because the Delaware \u200dU.S. attorney\u2019s\u200c office did not investigate Smirnov\u2019s claims in 2020, he\u200d was never branded as a possible source of Russian lies.<\/p>\n<p>Recall also that until recently, the FBI considered Smirnov a \u2062highly credible source and one\u2064 even \u2063authorized to engage in criminal conduct. What information \u2062might our FBI have entrusted Smirnov with during those three\u2064 years?<\/p>\n<p>In short, while\u2062 the Delaware U.S. attorney\u2019s office\u2019s\u2062 goal may have been \u200cprotecting Hunter\u2062 Biden,\u2064 by failing to\u2062 investigate the FD-1023,\u2062 they harmed our national \u200bsecurity.<\/p>\n<p>This all assumes \u200dthe\u200d indictment and the memorandum represent reality. Smirnov \u200dhas yet to have his day in court, and there may be much more to the story. But one thing is certain, even if\u200b Smirnov is guilty, \u2064that does not exonerate Weiss.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-94b08afadb42fc1917b9594bbb5a9dfd\" class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-94b08afadb42fc1917b9594bbb5a9dfd fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<p>rnrn<\/p>\n<h2>What concerns are raised by Smirnov&#8217;s connections to <a title=\"15 Media Personalities Claimed Hunter\u2019s Laptop Emails Were Likely Russian Propaganda Before New York Times Authenticated\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/15-media-personalities-claimed-hunters-laptop-emails-were-likely-russian-propaganda-before-new-york-times-authenticated\/\">foreign intelligence services<\/a> and the special counsel&#8217;s office&#8217;s decision to continue employing him as a \u200b<a title=\"FD-1023 Document Implicates Biden in International Bribery Scheme\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-everything-in-the-damning-fd-1023-document-that-implicates-biden-in-an-international-bribery-scheme\/\">confidential human\u2063 source<\/a>?<\/h2>\n<p>Lligence services pose a significant flight risk and demonstrate \u2064his willingness \u200bto engage in\u2063 potentially illegal activities.&#8221;\u2063 While it is certainly concerning that Smirnov has connections to \u200cforeign intelligence\u2064 services, it\u200c is\u200c equally troubling that the special counsel&#8217;s\u2063 office continued to employ him as a confidential human source despite\u200b this knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>This\u2063 latest development is just one example of the mishandling\u2064 of the investigation into Hunter Biden and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. It is clear that Weiss&#8217;s office\u200c failed to properly investigate the allegations made by \u200bSmirnov in the FD-1023 document, choosing to ignore it for nearly three years. It was only after Senator Chuck Grassley made\u200d the document public \u2064that any action \u200cwas taken.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that Weiss&#8217;s team did not follow up on the \u2064FD-1023 raises\u2062 questions about their \u2062competency and their commitment to uncovering\u200d the truth. This is a serious matter, as the allegations\u200d made by Smirnov could \u200chave significant implications, including potential bribery and corruption involving the Bidens.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the special counsel&#8217;s office appears to have missed opportunities to further\u200d investigate Smirnov&#8217;s claims. The FD-1023 was vetted by the \u200bPittsburgh\u2063 U.S. attorney&#8217;s office, which\u200c found the information obtained to\u200b be \u200cconsistent with Smirnov&#8217;s representations and recommended that Weiss&#8217;s team investigate the\u200b allegations. \u2064However, it\u200b appears that no further action was taken.<\/p>\n<p>In light\u2062 of these revelations, \u200dit is evident\u2063 that\u200b Weiss&#8217;s handling of the investigation into Hunter Biden and Burisma has been marked \u2063by \u200dincompetence \u200band negligence. The failure to\u2062 properly investigate the allegations, the\u2062 delayed questioning of\u2064 Smirnov, and the \u2064continued use of the informant\u200d despite his connections to\u2062 foreign intelligence services all\u200b raise serious concerns\u2063 about the integrity of the\u2062 investigation.<\/p>\n<p>It \u2062is crucial \u200dthat the special counsel&#8217;s\u200b office \u2064be\u2063 held accountable for its failures in this case. The American \u200dpeople deserve a thorough and unbiased investigation into any potential wrongdoing by the Bidens or \u200cany other individuals involved. \u2063Anything less\u2062 than that\u2064 undermines the trust and confidence the public places in our \u2063justice system.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, the recent court \u2062filing \u2063rejecting\u2064 the request to detain Smirnov pending trial exposes the incompetence and mishandling of the investigation by Special\u200b Counsel Weiss\u2063 and his office. The failure to \u200cproperly investigate the allegations raised by Smirnov, the\u2062 delayed\u200c questioning of the informant, and the continued use of a source with connections to \u200bforeign intelligence services \u2062all reflect poorly on \u200bWeiss&#8217;s abilities \u200cand his commitment to uncovering the truth. It is imperative that the special counsel&#8217;s office be \u200bheld accountable\u200d for its failures\u2062 and that a thorough and unbiased investigation\u2064 be conducted to ensure justice and transparency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal judge denied Special Counsel David Weiss&#8217;s request to keep Alexander Smirnov in jail before trial for lying to the FBI. Although the special counsel&#8217;s office failed to detain Smirnov, Weiss may have seen it as a PR win due to the excessive information he provided<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":499,"featured_media":2182663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Hunter-Biden-and-Abbe-Lowell-2023.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"David Weiss&#8217;s recent motion reveals that his actions to safeguard the Bidens have jeopardized national security","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2182662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Hunter-Biden-and-Abbe-Lowell-2023.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"David Weiss&#8217;s recent motion reveals that his actions to safeguard the Bidens have jeopardized national security","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2182662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/499"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2182662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2182662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2182663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2182662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2182662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2182662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}