The ex-FBI informant charged with lying about Joe and Hunter Biden receiving bribes won't go on trial until after the 2024 election due to both the prosecution and defense asking for more time.

U.S. District Judge Otis Wright had planned to start the trial in Los Angeles on April 23, but both Special Counsel David Weiss and attorneys for Alexander Smirnov requested the delay until December in order to have more time to prepare to argue the case.

Wright granted the request and delayed the trial until December 3 at 9:30 a.m.

The case came about when a whistleblower told House Republicans about an FD-1023 form in the possession of the FBI that alleged the Bidens took millions in bribe money in 2015 while Joe Biden was vice president to influence policy decisions and get a Ukrainian prosecutor fired so he couldn't scrutinize Burisma Holdings, a company that employed Hunter Biden at the time.

"Highly credible"

Smirnov was considered a "highly credible' source by the FBI, but his story fell apart under cross-examination.

When his claims were investigated, however, it appears that Smirnov only spoke to Burisma executives in 2017 when Joe Biden was out of office and Shokin had already been fired.

Prosecutors now say Smirnov was motivated to make false statements because he was biased against Biden and his presidential candidacy.

He has pleaded not guilty to making a false statement.

Held without bail

He was being held without bail pending trial, but now that his trial has been delayed for more than six months, it wasn't clear whether he would be released.

Smirnov could get 25 years in prison if convicted of the crime.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said the FD-1023 referring to Smirnov is not being used as part of the impeachment inquiry into Biden.

Comer famously demanded that FBI director Christopher Wray turn over the FD-1023 before it was alleged to be false.

Wray said it would jeopardize the informant's life and instead agreed to let members of Congress view the document in a secure location.

As the time, it was seen as strong evidence of Biden corruption, but it turned out not to be the case.