Two former senior FBI officials surrendered on Friday, October 23, on arrest warrants after a criminal complaint charged them with lying to Congress about their involvement in the FBI's investigations into Hunter Biden, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced in Washington.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Nikki Cole Floris, 46, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Bradley Benavides, 56, of Aiken, South Carolina, are each charged with making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, under 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2). A false-statements conviction under that statute can carry up to five years in prison. The charges stem from an ongoing investigation into the FBI's now-dissolved Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF), which led the bureau's efforts to secure the 2020 election from foreign malign influence.
Floris led the FITF as a Deputy Assistant Director from mid-2019 through mid-2022, and Benavides was the FITF Section Chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election. In 2023, the House Judiciary Committee interviewed both about the task force's role in the Hunter Biden investigations, and each was warned that lying to Congress is a crime, the Justice Department said.
According to the department, both testified that the FITF was not involved in the FBI's Hunter Biden investigations. Prosecutors allege the record shows otherwise: Floris allegedly discussed the Hunter Biden investigations routinely for more than a year inside the task force and with others in the FBI, while Benavides — who testified he learned of the FBI's possession of Hunter Biden's laptop only from a Wikipedia article in 2023 — allegedly discussed the laptop regularly with FBI officials in the lead-up to the 2020 election. An affidavit supporting the complaint says documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications and witness accounts contradict their testimony.
"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 Pirro said. FBI Director Kash Patel said one of the two is on record privately claiming to be "running a shadow government" during the 2020 election. Through their lawyers, both former officials denied misconduct, Fox News reported.
The Justice Department stresses that charges in a complaint are merely allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. No grand jury indictment has been announced in the case.