Two former senior FBI officials were charged with making false statements to Congress about their roles in the investigation into Hunter Biden's laptop in the final weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
The two ex-senior FBI officials, Nikki Floris, 46, and Bradley Benavides, 56, made their first appearance in court on Friday in Washington, DC, before federal Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui.
They were each charged with one count of allegedly lying to Congress about their roles on the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, or FITF, and 'about their roles in the FBI's Hunter Biden investigation,' according to US Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
They were charged by criminal complaint, which means that federal prosecutors have not yet secured an indictment in either case from a grand jury.
Floris is a former intelligence analyst who headed up the bureau's Washington Field Office, and Benavides formerly served as the deputy assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division.
The decision by Pirro's office to announce charges against two senior ex-FBI officials 10 days before the midterm elections is highly unusual and sparked a wave of questions, including from Judge Faruqui.
Faruqui noted that both Floris and Benavides have 'sparkling backgrounds' from their years in law enforcement, and that the alleged conduct 'happened years ago.'
He instructed prosecutors to be ready to move quickly, given that they 'brought this serious charge against two decorated agents.'
Hunter Biden and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, depart from the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Court in Wilmington, Delaware, after opening statements in his trial on felony gun charges
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro speaks at a press conference. Pirro's office announced charges against two FBI agents who allegedly lied to Congress in 2023 - prompting concern over the timing and method by which the charges were brought
Then-FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Nikki Floris testifies before Congress in 2019 alongside Adam Hickey, a former National Security official at DOJ
Floris and Benavides were charged with making false statements to the House Judiciary Committee about their roles on the task force and their involvement in the Hunter Biden investigation during separate testimonies in July 2023 and September 2023, respectively, according to a criminal complaint.
The committee put out a simple post on X after the indictment: 'The cover-up didn't work.'
The case marks the latest in a string of instances that Justice Department officials have sidestepped longstanding internal guidance that cautions the department against taking public or overt investigative action in a 90-day period before an election.
The charges against Floris and Benavides were unsealed just 10 days before the November midterms – where Republicans appear poised to cede control of one or both chambers of Congress.
The timing prompted concern from attorneys for the former agents, and the magistrate judge himself.
They asked Friday why federal prosecutors did not move on the alleged false statements charges much earlier, given that the conduct in question occurred more than three years ago.
Faruqui agreed – describing the process by which the charges were secured as 'strange.'
He also denied prosecutors' request to delay the preliminary hearing by more than two weeks.
Photos and texts from Hunter Biden's laptop. The laptop became a flashpoint in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election - and a target for Republicans for years after
One of the many photos of Hunter found on his laptop
'This is the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads,' he said, before ordering all parties back to court Tuesday morning.
Hunter's laptop, which was abandoned at a repair shop in Delaware and then obtained by former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, became a flashpoint in the run-up to the 2020 election, after its contents were reported by the New York Post.
Hunter Biden was later convicted of felony gun charges and separate tax offenses, though he was pardoned by his father, former President Joe Biden, shortly before he left office.
Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi is seen at a press conference with Pirro last year. Bondi disbanded the FITF in 2025, shortly after taking the helm of DOJ
Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel speak to reporters
Republicans have blasted the FBI's handling of the laptop, as well as the now-disbanded Foreign Intelligence Task Force (FITF) that Floris and Benavides both helped lead.
FITF was tasked with probing foreign influence threats, including potential Russian disinformation, and was also a target for Republican criticism.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi disbanded FITF in one of her first official actions last year.
The charges against the former FBI agents were praised Friday by Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, who described the agents' alleged conduct as 'weaponization' in separate statements shared with the Daily Mail.
'As we've said repeatedly: Weaponization will never be tolerated at this FBI,' Patel said, adding that 'anyone who abuses their position of public trust will be held accountable.'
Pirro, the US attorney in DC, went further – describing prosecutors' actions as bringing the 'hammer of justice down' on the senior ex-FBI agents.
'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,' Pirro said Friday.
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