The Justice Department has charged two former FBI officials with lying to Congress about their roles in the bureau’s investigations into Hunter Biden, including the inquiry surrounding his laptop. Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides surrendered Friday on arrest warrants, according to the DOJ.
Prosecutors say both officials falsely denied involvement in the Biden-related investigations when they testified before Congress. The DOJ says it has evidence that Benavides discussed the laptop story internally with FBI colleagues, despite testifying that he first learned about it from Wikipedia. The department also says it has evidence that Floris discussed Hunter Biden with members of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, contrary to her own testimony.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro defended the charges in strong terms.
“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. “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.”
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the arrests and connected them to the 2020 election.
“This morning the FBI arrested two former FBI members of the now dissolved Foreign Influence Task Force, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, both of whom allegedly lied to Congress in 2023 on matters regarding investigations related to the 2020 election,” Patel said. “One of these individuals is on record privately claiming to be ‘running a shadow government’ during the 2020 election. As we’ve said repeatedly: weaponization will never be tolerated at this FBI.”
Floris’s attorneys pushed back sharply on the charges, framing them as politically motivated.
“Nikki Floris is a patriot. She 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. It’s no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of an election,” the attorneys said in a statement.
This is a developing story.
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