Wait! The judge released the spy who lied about the Bidens?

[imanamerican63]

Why would you not keep him in jail?

A Russian/GOBer informant who lied to the FBI & worked and gave false info!

What is wrong with these judges who don’t understand what the consequences of their decisions? They just keeping giving the GOBers more excuses to get their lies out!

I won’t say all the judges are wrong, but the fact that some of them won’t do their jobs is going to make things worse for our country!

[Irish_Dem]

1. The GOP and Russians get special treatment.

[former9thward]

7. Not true.

Anyone in his position charged with a similar crime would be released.

[Irish_Dem]

23. A Russian agent trying to harm the family of the President of the US?

Sure.

If he was black and maybe passed a fake $10 bill he would be tortured and killed on the spot.

[former9thward]

24. Except he was not charged with any of that.

[Irish_Dem]

25. Proves my point doesn't it?

A total disgrace.

[thucythucy]

31. So why is the Justice Department asking the judge

to reconsider?

Are the lawyers there not aware of how the law works?

[Prairie Gates]

36. Oh dear no

You're about to hear about the high paying clients...

[Kid Berwyn]

8. Charles McGonigal might still be on the payroll...

…were it not for British Intel and an angered girlfriend.

[multigraincracker]

2. I would not be surprised

if that person turns up dead.
Just a gut feeling.

[imanamerican63]

3. Yep!

[Phoenix61]

4. I think he was safer in jail. nt

[Voltaire2]

5. The current charges don't justify pre-trial detention.

We have a legal system that gives everyone accused of a crime a presumption of innocence. Part of that includes not allowing the government to just throw people in jail before they have been convicted. In this case the prosecution did ask for pre-trial detention, based on flight risk and allegations, not included in the actual charges, that he is a russian agent who will continue to cause harm.

The judge did take his passports, and he has an ankle monitor, and there are other restrictions that weren't included in the news reports.

The prosecution needs to bring actual espionage charges if they want to treat him like a spy.

[msfiddlestix]

14. I can't get past the first statement. Just not a reality in the world I lived in for the past 3/4 of a century

in the U.S. A.

[Voltaire2]

16. That is a separate issue.

The poor tax known as bail does indeed result in people without access to funds getting tossed in jail without being convicted of anything. That is a gross miscarriage of justice and should be abolished.

Meanwhile if you can post bail you aren’t jailed.

[msfiddlestix]

42. Exactly. Which puts a lie to any claim that our justice system procedures follows the same protocols for all..

just isn't true. Justice for the wealthy, not for the poor or people with lesser means.

s

[Voltaire2]

43. Actually it does follow the 'same procedures for all', that's the problem.

Our society puts a 'poverty tax' on almost all aspects of life.

[Rebl2]

17. Hope he

has no phone or computer to communicate with his Russian handlers.

[Voltaire2]

20. Lol. I hope he does exactly that.

The fbi is not stupid.

[getagrip_already]

28. They are called lawyers, and you cant do anything about it

Or even eavesdrop on it. He is also entitled to visits from his embassy.

So let's get real. If he intends to communicate, he can do it freely.

[Voltaire2]

30. You should look at fisa laws

This idiot is being monitored. Our intelligence services consider him an asset, at this point he’s just bait. If Russia attempts an extraction it will be an extra bonus.

[getagrip_already]

33. Possibly..

But a fisa court is not going to grant a wire tap request to listen in on communications with his lawyer. Nor would they be able to listen to anything he says inside an embassy or consulate.

Sure, they can bug his comms if they can convince a judge he is a spy, but using that info in court may be problematic, especially if it protected by other privelage.

[Voltaire2]

34. They can listen to anything.

They can’t use his privileged conversations in court. He’s a foreign national involved with foreign espionage agents. He has zero privacy rights.

[Happy Hoosier]

18. Given his connections to Russians Intelligence....

.... I think he fully qualifies as a flight risk.

It would be trivial for Russian intelligence to get him out of the country.

[Voltaire2]

21. GPS monitoring.

Both the fbi and fsb aren’t idiots. The fbi would be delighted if russian agents tried to get him out. They won’t. He’s toxic and of no particular value.

[Happy Hoosier]

27. Sure. Nobody ever ditched GPS monitoring before.

Putin might just do it to poke the US in the eye. Putin is, after all, a someone who revels in the petty.

[Voltaire2]

32. The bracelet is just for show.

I guarantee that his phones and computers are all monitored. As a foreign national he can be intrusively monitored.

[former9thward]

6. I amazed on a daily basis the number of posters who have little knowledge of our legal system.

We do not hold defendants in this country in jail before trial unless they are a flight risk or a risk to the community. This individual does not meet either condition. So, of course he would be released just as anyone else would be. To hold people in jail because of their politics or you don't like what they are accused of doing is what dictatorships do.

[imanamerican63]

9. I see your point, but.,.

the guy is a spy! He is dangerous person!

[former9thward]

10. But he was not charged as a spy.

So, the court is not going to treat him as one.

[obamanut2012]

15. Except he is not a spy

He has not been charged as a spy, let alone convicted of one. His passport was taken, he is being SCRAMed, and there are other restrictions.

[Kid Berwyn]

13. "Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner called for Trump's immediate arrest."

From the link…

On MSNBC's "The Katie Phang Show," former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner referred to Trump as a "classified documents terrorist."

Kirschner called for Trump's immediate arrest.

"The evidence is there ten-fold," he said. "It's time to really step up and enforce the laws against Donald Trump the way they would be enforced against any mere mortal."

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/holy-moley-legal-experts-believe-fbi-inquiry-into-possible-trump-tower-stash-related-to-looming-criminal-case/ar-AA12ITbp

[Happy Hoosier]

19. He's connected to a foreign intelligence service!!!!

How is he NOT a flight risk?

[Prairie Gates]

37. The prosecutors argued that he was, the judge decided that he wasn't

Judge's call.

Now, if the guy actually does flee, the judge will look like a fool before God and his colleagues, which is about the only real check on his decision-making.

[Happy Hoosier]

40. Actually, the judge agreed he was a flight risk....

... but said that GPS monitoring and revoking his 2 passports was sufficient to secure him.

FWIW, Weiss is now asking a Federal Judge in CA to overturn that decision and hold Smirnov.

A bit mystified by folks here who think it's A-OK this guy is going to be allowed to float in the breeze.

Frankly, he's probably more at risk of "falling out of a window" than fleeing.

[Prairie Gates]

41. ...

[Maru Kitteh]

35. Thank you. "I think he's a bad dude" is not a reason

To imprison someone. A basis is required.

[Prairie Gates]

38. The prosecutors argued that he had access to significant funds (to wit, $6 million)

and connections to a foreign entity. That was the basis of their argument for pre-trial detention. The judge set that aside and determined that it was not enough to warrant pre-trial detention. There was a basis; the judge just didn't find it sufficient.

[onenote]

11. The Magistrate Judge that ordered the release was appointed by in 2019 by five Obama judges

Magistrate Judges are chosen by the sitting judges in the district court. In 2019, five of the 7 sitting judges in the District of Nevada were Obama judges.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

12. He could be epsteined in jail or windowed while released.

[Hugin]

26. It's more likely he'll be Maria Butina-ed...

That’s what typically happens with NRA… GOP… Uh, I mean Pootie’s assets.

“Butina worked as an assistant for Aleksandr Torshin; a former member of the Federation Council, member of Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, and deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia. In this role, she worked to infiltrate conservative groups in the US, including the National Rifle Association, as part of an effort to promote Russian interests in the 2016 United States presidential election. The Senate Intelligence Committee later concluded that she attempted to persuade the Trump campaign to establish a secret communications back channel with Russia.
In July 2018, while residing in Washington, D.C., Butina was arrested by the FBI and charged with acting as an agent of the Russian Federation "without prior notification to the Attorney General." In December 2018, she pleaded guilty to felony charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent of the Russian state under 18 U.S.C. §951. In April 2019, a federal judge sentenced her to 18 months in prison. She served around five months at Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution. Her 9-month pretrial prison term was counted towards her sentence. She was released and deported back to Russia in October 2019. She publicly denied being a Russian spy. In 2021, she was elected to the State Duma as a member of United Russia.”

More w/ references here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Butina

[Hermit-The-Prog]

29. "Conservatives" are so easy to infiltrate because they hate America.

[republianmushroom]

22. Some to be another forgetful, missing witness ?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

39. Prosecutors push to send FBI source accused of lying about Bidens back to jail

Link to tweet

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/21/prosecutors-push-to-send-fbi-source-accused-of-lying-about-bidens-back-to-jail-00142448

Prosecutors are asking a federal judge to reconsider a magistrate judge’s decision to free a former FBI source facing charges for falsely claiming that Joe Biden accepted a bribe from a Ukrainian businessperson.

Justice Department attorneys say the former source, Alexander Smirnov, has reported extensive contacts with high-level Russian intelligence operatives and could use those alleged connections to flee justice if allowed to remain out of custody.

Prosecutors working for David Weiss, the special counsel probing issues related to the president’s son Hunter, obtained an indictment of Smirnov last week on charges of making false statements to the FBI and obstruction of justice. Smirnov was arrested at the Las Vegas airport last week as he returned from a trip abroad, and the Justice Department indicated he had another lengthy foreign trip planned just days from now.

Weiss’ team contends that Smirnov’s alleged lies, weak ties to the Las Vegas area and ready access to millions of dollars in assets make him a threat to attempt an escape. They also note that he holds Israeli citizenship and could use it to obtain a new passport and flee.....

Though the Justice Department describes Smirnov as untrustworthy, it nevertheless repeatedly relies on his own self-reported contacts with Russian officials to make the case for his pretrial detention. In their motion, prosecutors reference “declassified” summaries of Smirnov’s reported contacts with those high-level Russian intelligence officials. It’s unclear if the government has independently confirmed those contacts, but typically the sources and methods used by the intelligence community are among its most closely guarded secrets.