The Justice Department has charged two former FBI officials for allegedly lying to Congress about their involvement in investigations into Hunter Biden, including his laptop.
Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, former top leaders of a since-disbanded task force meant to counter foreign election interference, both surrendered Friday under arrest warrants.
“Lying to Congress by anyone strikes at the heart of our democratic system, but when senior FBI agents lie to Congress believing they are above the law, it’s time to bring the hammer of justice down on them,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said, according to
Fox News.
BREAKING: A former FBI official who briefed Congress on 2020 foreign election interference is charged by the Justice Department, her lawyers say.
https://t.co/gCL49qr5Vx
— The Associated Press (@AP)
October 23, 2026
More from the
Associated Press:
The prosecution, a rare Department of Justice criminal case against a former employee, revisits a tangled and peculiar saga that roiled the final weeks of the 2020 race. It also comes amid a broader, backward-looking effort by FBI Director Kash Patel, who before taking over the nation’s premier law enforcement agency was a harsh critic of it, to scrutinize high-profile episodes from the bureau’s recent past that for years have animated President Donald Trump’s conservative base.
Floris’ attorneys called her “a patriot” and said she has “served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years.”
“Yet today, the DOJ has accused her falsely of a crime on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts,” her attorneys said in a statement. “It’s no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of an election.”
The case was filed 10 days before the Nov. 3 elections via criminal complaint, which means prosecutors have not yet presented the case to a grand jury for an indictment. The Justice Department has repeatedly struggled in high-profile cases to convince grand juries in the nation’s capital to return indictments.
During the former FBI employees’ court appearance, both defense attorneys and the judge noted the unusual move to charge the case through a criminal complaint, which is more often used by prosecutors when they have an urgent need to take people into custody because, for example, they present a danger or a risk of flight.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui remarked that it is “rare that we have charges this old coming in this nature.” Faruqui set a preliminary hearing for next Tuesday over the objections of prosecutors, who pushed for more time given what the judge described as the “sword of Damocles” hanging over the defendants’ head.
“When senior officials entrusted with safeguarding our nation’s security choose deception over duty, they undermine the very institutions they swore to uphold. Today’s action makes clear that no one is above the law, and we will hold accountable all who obstruct the truth,” Pirro added.
According to
Fox News, Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson “previously accused Floris and Benavides of participating in a 2020 FBI briefing about Russian disinformation.”
The senators alleged the briefing was meant to undermine their investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, the outlet noted.
“Two former senior FBI officials, Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides, were taken into custody today on charges of allegedly lying to Congress about their involvement in the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden. The charges stem from an ongoing investigation into the since-dissolved FBI Foreign Influence Task Force,” FBI Director Kash Patel said.
“Floris led the FITF as a Deputy Assistant Director from mid-2019 through mid-2022. Benavides was the FITF Section Chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election. Both testified that the FITF was not involved in the Hunter Biden investigations. Documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications, and witness accounts contradict their testimony. Floris is also on record privately claiming to be ‘running a shadow government’ during the 2020 election in her role on the FITF,” he continued.
“Lying to Congress by senior FBI officials strikes at the heart of our system. No one is above the law. The FBI has already dismantled the corrupt CR-15 squad that engaged in political weaponization targeting their opponents, including President Trump,” he added.
Two former senior FBI officials, Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides, were taken into custody today on charges of allegedly lying to Congress about their involvement in the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden.
The charges stem from an ongoing investigation into the…
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash)
October 23, 2026
Fox News shared further:
The Justice Department claims to possess evidence that shows Benavides discussed the laptop story with others in the FBI, contradicting his testimony that he learned about the story from Wikipedia. Similarly, the department says that it has evidence Floris discussed Hunter Biden with members of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF), despite testifying to the contrary.
A statement of facts filed by the DOJ points to 2023 testimony that Floris gave to the House Judiciary Committee where she denied any involvement in the investigation into Biden’s son. She answered in the negative to questions about whether there was “ever a discussion at the FITF about Hunter Biden” or if she had “any involvement in the Hunter Biden investigation.”
Contrasting these statements, the DOJ pointed to email logs purporting to show that Floris discussed Hunter with colleagues at the bureau.
Benavides, meanwhile, told lawmakers that he read the Wikipedia page on the laptop story when asked where he learned “that there was an ongoing criminal investigation related to the laptop.” The DOJ says emails it has obtained show he was in contact with the team working the investigation into Hunter Biden and that he met with the team prior to a meeting with lawmakers.
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Justice Department Charges Two “Former Senior FBI Officials” For Allegedly Lying To Congress About Their Involvement In Hunter Biden Investigation appeared first on
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