A federal judge has tossed out the cases against two former Federal Bureau of Investigation officials, accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing the power of government in order to prosecute them.
The Dept. of Justice had sought criminal charges against 46-year-old Nikki Floris and 56-year-old Bradley Benavides on the basis that they had allegedly lied to Congress about the Hunter Biden laptop case.
'What has transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization.'
Both Floris and Benavides had testified in 2023 that they had no part in the investigation into Biden's laptop, but prosecutors cited evidence that both may have discussed the case with other FBI officials.
On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui dismissed the charges against both defendants.
"What has transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization," said Faruqui.
He said the government could have brought the charges at any time but chose to do so two weeks before the election. He also cited a prime time speech where President Donald Trump aired his grievances about the 2020 election.
"I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend that I cannot read a calendar," Faruqui added.
He accused the government of rushing the prosecution and including "critical mistakes" in their charges.
Floris' attorney had argued in court that his client had been prosecuted in order to influence public opinion for the sake of the election.
Critics of Floris pointed to an unearthed alleged text where she claimed to be "basically running a shadow government" in the FBI.
Both Floris and Benavides had been a part of the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, which no longer exists but had spearheaded the agency's efforts to oppose foreign influence in the 2020 election.
The Justice Dept. has the option to pursue indictments of both Floris and Benavides through a grand jury.
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Faruqui was heavily criticized when he apologized in court to Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of trying to assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April. Cole had been placed on suicide watch and been denied access to a Bible, according to his attorneys.
As a magistrate federal judge, Faruqui was not nominated by a president or approved by the U.S. Senate but selected by the court in Washington, D.C.
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[H/T Blaze Media]
