Two former FBI officials charged with lying to Congress in 2023 about Hunter Biden investigations

By Ezra Whitfield

WASHINGTON — Two former senior FBI officials surrendered Friday after a criminal complaint charged them with lying to Congress in 2023 about their roles in the bureau’s investigations of Hunter Biden, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced.

Nikki Cole Floris, 46, of Alexandria, and Bradley Benavides, 56, of Aiken, S.C., are each charged with one count of making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, under 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2). Prosecutors say the charges stem from an ongoing investigation into the since-dissolved FBI Foreign Influence Task Force, or FITF, which led the bureau’s work to protect the 2020 election from foreign malign influence. Floris led the task force as a deputy assistant director from mid-2019 to mid-2022, and Benavides was its section chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“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. Attorney General Todd Blanche said that “public servants, including federal law enforcement officials, cannot lie to Congress and get away with it.” FBI Director Kash Patel said “weaponization will never be tolerated at this FBI.”

Floris’s lawyers say she has been falsely accused, and a lawyer for Benavides questioned why the case was brought years after the testimony. The release notes that charges in a complaint are allegations and that every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

What the complaint alleges

In 2023, the House Judiciary Committee interviewed both officials about the task force’s role in the Hunter Biden investigations, and each was warned that lying to Congress is a crime, prosecutors said. According to the complaint and statement of facts, Floris testified on July 19, 2023, and Benavides that September.

Asked whether she had “any involvement in the Hunter Biden investigation,” Floris answered, “I did not,” and said she personally had no conversations about Hunter Biden at the task force, the complaint says, as quoted by CBS News. Benavides told the committee he learned of an ongoing criminal investigation related to the laptop from “the Wikipedia page,” according to the complaint.

Prosecutors say documents, contemporaneous communications and witness accounts contradict that testimony. The complaint alleges the task force hosted classified briefings for the agents and prosecutors on the Hunter Biden case in which both officials took part, and that Floris “was in frequent communication with the case team for over a year.” It cites a congressional staffer present for both interviews who told investigators the testimony appeared “materially untrue,” and an FBI employee who said he spoke with Benavides about the laptop and about reviewing its contents, CBS reported.

The complaint also describes a task force operation called “Round River” and says the two officials helped prepare an Aug. 6, 2020, defensive briefing on potential Russian disinformation given to Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), according to CBS.

In court

The two appeared Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Ron Safer, a lawyer for Benavides, said “the government has had the information about this for years” and asked for a preliminary hearing “as soon as humanly possible,” CBS reported.

Faruqui called the manner in which the case was charged “strange,” turned down a prosecution request to delay the preliminary hearing by two weeks or more, and ordered the parties back at 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to CBS. “This will follow them for the rest of their lives,” he said.

Floris’s lawyers said in a statement that she “served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years” and has been “accused falsely of a crime.” They pointed to the timing, about two weeks before the midterm elections, and said, “we look forward to Nikki’s day in court.”

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kirkpatrick, who came to the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri, argued for the government, joined by George Massucco, criminal chief of the D.C. office, CBS reported. A spokesperson for Pirro’s office told CBS that Kirkpatrick works in its criminal division and that two other senior prosecutors in the office are also working on the case.

The Inquisitor contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI’s national press office and Washington Field Office, Grassley’s office and Safer on Saturday. This story will be updated with any responses.

Photo: The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington. Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.