Two former FBI officials were charged Friday with making false statements to Congress regarding their roles in the investigation of Hunter Biden’s laptop during the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, who served as senior leaders in the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF), surrendered to authorities and appeared in federal court in Washington, D.C. The charges stem from testimony they provided in 2023 to a Republican-led House Judiciary Committee probing alleged misconduct related to Hunter Biden.
The Justice Department alleges that both Floris and Benavides intentionally misled lawmakers about their knowledge of, and involvement in, the FBI’s handling of Hunter Biden’s laptop case. Floris, who was deputy assistant director of the FITF and led the FBI’s intelligence division in Washington, testified that she had no involvement or knowledge of the investigation. Benavides, the FITF section chief, claimed during his testimony that he only learned about the FBI’s possession of the laptop through a Wikipedia article. Prosecutors contend that internal emails, FBI communications, and witness statements contradict these claims, showing that both officials were actively engaged with the case, including coordinating the bureau’s response to media inquiries and participating in briefings regarding Hunter Biden.
The laptop, reportedly dropped off by Hunter Biden at a Delaware computer repair shop in 2019 and containing emails related to his foreign business dealings, became a controversial focal point in the final weeks before the 2020 election. The New York Post published a story about the laptop in mid-October 2020, igniting debate over whether the materials were authentic or part of a foreign disinformation campaign. At the time, some Democrats and former intelligence officials expressed concern about possible Russian involvement; however, the FBI and intelligence officials, including then-Director Chris Wray and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, concluded there was no evidence that foreign actors were behind the laptop.
The charges follow a broader effort by FBI Director Kash Patel, who took over the bureau in 2025 and has criticized the FBI’s previous handling of politically sensitive cases. Patel has overseen reforms and personnel changes amid allegations of political bias within the agency. The current case marks a rare criminal prosecution of former FBI employees and comes just days before the November midterm elections—a timing that defense attorneys have questioned. U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui acknowledged the unusual use of a criminal complaint rather than a grand jury indictment and set a preliminary hearing for Tuesday to evaluate the government’s evidence.
Floris and Benavides face up to five years in prison if convicted. Their lawyers have denied the allegations, describing the charges as politically motivated and filed years after the fact. Floris’s legal team emphasized her nearly two decades of service as a dedicated FBI officer, while Benavides’s attorney called the case baseless.
The case also highlights longstanding Republican criticisms of the FBI’s conduct during the Trump administration and the investigation into Hunter Biden. Members of Congress such as Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson have previously complained that the FBI’s “defensive briefing” on the laptop was intended to impede their investigations into alleged influence peddling by the Biden family.
This prosecution is part of a pattern of high-profile Justice Department actions against individuals connected to both major political parties in the weeks ahead of the midterms. Recent cases include a search of Representative Ilhan Omar’s home in an immigration investigation and racketeering charges against Virginia State Senator L. Louise Lucas, both Democrats and critics of former President Donald Trump. The political context of these prosecutions has drawn attention and raised questions about the intersection of law enforcement and partisan considerations.