Two former senior FBI officials surrendered to federal authorities Friday after being accused of lying to Congress about their knowledge of investigations involving Hunter Biden and his laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides, both former members of the FBI’s now-disbanded Foreign Influence Task Force, face federal criminal charges over statements they allegedly made during congressional testimony in 2023.
The arrests, announced October 23, follow a Justice Department investigation into whether the two former officials deliberately misled lawmakers about their involvement in politically sensitive matters.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced the charges and warned that federal law enforcement officials would not be exempt from prosecution if they knowingly provided false 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,” Pirro said.
She argued that dishonesty by government officials could undermine public confidence in federal institutions.
“When senior officials entrusted with safeguarding our nation’s security choose deception over duty, they undermine the very institutions they swore to uphold,” Pirro continued.
The allegations center on testimony Floris and Benavides provided to congressional investigators examining the FBI’s activities surrounding the 2020 presidential election.
According to prosecutors, Benavides claimed that he first learned about the controversy surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop through Wikipedia.
Federal investigators now allege they possess evidence indicating that Benavides had previously discussed the laptop story with other FBI personnel.
If substantiated, those communications could contradict his account to lawmakers.
Floris faces similar accusations concerning her knowledge of the FBI’s activities involving the former president’s son.
Prosecutors allege that she discussed Hunter Biden with members of the Foreign Influence Task Force despite previously providing testimony suggesting otherwise.
The Justice Department has not publicly established that either defendant interfered with the election or improperly influenced the underlying investigations.
Nevertheless, the charges renew scrutiny of the bureau’s handling of sensitive political matters during the 2020 campaign.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the arrests in a statement Friday morning.
“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.
The director also disclosed an additional allegation involving one of the defendants.
“One of these individuals is on record privately claiming to be ‘running a shadow government’ during the 2020 election,” Patel stated.
Patel did not identify which former official allegedly made the remark or provide further details about its context.
He emphasized that the bureau would not tolerate what he characterized as the misuse of federal law enforcement authority.
“As we’ve said repeatedly: weaponization will never be tolerated at this FBI,” Patel declared.
The arrests come less than two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, prompting accusations from at least one defense team that the prosecution is politically motivated.
Attorneys representing Floris strongly disputed the charges and defended her nearly two decades of service with the bureau.
“Nikki Floris is a patriot. She served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years,” her attorneys said.
The legal team accused the Justice Department of pursuing the case without sufficient factual grounds.
“Yet today, the DOJ has accused her falsely of a crime on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts,” the statement continued.
Her attorneys also questioned why prosecutors waited until shortly before the elections to announce charges arising from testimony delivered three years earlier.
“It’s no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of an election,” they said.
The defense’s response sets up a dispute over what the former officials knew, what they communicated internally and whether their statements to Congress were knowingly false, per Trending Politics.
The prosecution will need to establish that the alleged false statements meet the legal requirements for a criminal conviction.
Neither defendant has been found guilty, and the accusations do not establish wrongdoing in the underlying Hunter Biden investigation.
The arrests nevertheless represent a new stage in federal efforts to examine the conduct of former FBI personnel involved in politically sensitive investigations.
Both Floris and Benavides are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
