Two Former FBI Officials Charged With Lying to Congress About Hunter Biden Investigations

Two former senior FBI officials surrendered in Washington on Friday after a criminal complaint charged them with lying to Congress about their involvement in the bureau investigations into Hunter Biden, the Justice Department said.

Nikki Cole Floris, 46, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Bradley Benavides, 56, of Aiken, South Carolina, were each charged with one count of making a false statement. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced the charges. A complaint contains allegations. Both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

What prosecutors say they told Congress

The House Judiciary Committee interviewed both officials in 2023 about the role of the FBI Foreign Influence Task Force in the Hunter Biden investigations, and each was warned that lying to Congress is a crime. Floris told the committee she was involved in no discussions about Hunter Biden while she was at the task force. Benavides testified that he only learned of the FBI possession of Hunter Biden laptop from reading a Wikipedia article in 2023.

Prosecutors say the record shows the opposite. According to the affidavit filed with the complaint, Floris discussed the FBI investigations into Hunter Biden routinely for more than a year, inside the task force and with others in the FBI, and Benavides regularly discussed the laptop with FBI officials in the leadup to the 2020 election. The affidavit says documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications and witness accounts contradict their testimony.

Their roles on the task force

The Foreign Influence Task Force led the FBI efforts to secure the 2020 election from foreign malign influence. It has since been dissolved, and the charges stem from an ongoing investigation into it. Floris led the task force as a deputy assistant director from mid-2019 through mid-2022. Benavides was its section chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election.

First appearance in court

Both defendants appeared in federal court in Washington on Friday morning. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said the charges are related to Hunter Biden laptop and allegations around it, CNN reported. Neither official will be detained while awaiting trial, and a hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning. Faruqui called the charge rare, noted that it was brought by complaint and not approved by a grand jury, and described both as decorated agents with sparkling backgrounds.

Officials praise the charges, defense calls them unjust

"Lying to Congress by anyone strikes at the heart of our democratic system," Pirro said. FBI Director Kash Patel said Floris is on record privately claiming to be running a shadow government during the 2020 election.

Lawyers for Floris said the charges rest on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts. "The government reasons for charging Nikki are as transparent as they are unjust: to push a false narrative for a shot at political points," her lawyers said in a statement reported by Reuters. A lawyer for Benavides could not immediately be reached for comment, Reuters reported.

The wider backdrop

The charges land less than two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections. Republicans have repeatedly criticized the FBI early handling of the Hunter Biden investigations. Hunter Biden was convicted of federal tax and gun charges and was then pardoned by his father, former President Joe Biden, around Thanksgiving in 2024, CNN reported. A special counsel who investigated Republican allegations against him did not recommend charges beyond the gun and tax cases.