Two Ex-FBI Officials Charged With Lying to Congress Over Hunter Biden Laptop Probe
Seven Lights
Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, two former officials who led the FBI’s now-disbanded Foreign Influence Task Force, were taken into custody on Friday and charged with making false statements to Congress about their involvement in the agency’s investigation into Hunter Biden’s laptop, The Hill reported. The two worked on the task force in 2019 and 2020, when it examined foreign influence operations, including those targeting the Biden family, The Hill said.
The pair appeared in federal court in Washington on Friday, PBS NewsHour reported. Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint rather than a grand jury indictment for now, and their lawyers requested an expedited preliminary hearing, PBS said. Judge Zia Faruqui noted the rarity of the case, the network reported. Floris served as a nearly 20-year FBI intelligence officer before leading the task force, according to PBS and The New York Times.
Their lawyers attacked the charges in statements reported by PBS NewsHour, describing their clients as patriots who acted on “politicians’ say-so” and calling the prosecution “transparently political.” CBS News reported the charges stem from testimony the two gave to Congress about the laptop investigation, in which the FBI examined claims that the device had been part of a Russian disinformation plot — claims later discredited.
The timing drew scrutiny: the charges were announced less than two weeks before the 3 November midterm elections, The Hill and PBS reported. The New York Times said the charges intensified the administration’s efforts to go after law enforcement and intelligence personnel who cast doubt on unsubstantiated claims that Joseph R. Biden Jr. engaged in corrupt dealings in Ukraine. Fox News reported the arrests followed renewed scrutiny of the lawmakers’ and agents’ handling of the laptop probe, and NPR reported the case as part of the Justice Department’s broader review of FBI conduct in the Biden-era investigation.
The case grows out of FBI Director Kash Patel’s retrospective review of how the bureau handled the laptop in 2020, PBS reported. The Foreign Influence Task Force was disbanded last year. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department immediately responded to media requests for comment on the charges, which carry potential prison terms if prosecuted and upheld.