The U.S. Justice Department has charged two former FBI employees with making false statements to Congress regarding their roles in investigations related to Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden. Nikki Floris, 46, and Bradley Benavides, 56, appeared in court on Friday in connection with the allegations.
The charges stem from a Republican-led congressional inquiry last year examining whether federal law enforcement had been politically biased against the GOP. Prosecutors contend that Floris and Benavides downplayed their involvement in the FBI’s probe of a laptop tied to Hunter Biden, which contained materials allegedly implicating him in questionable foreign business dealings. The laptop was reportedly left at a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware, in 2019.
According to court documents, Floris denied to congressional investigators any knowledge or participation in the Hunter Biden investigations, despite evidence that she had communicated extensively with the FBI team handling the matter for over a year. She also allegedly stated she was unaware of the laptop, even though she helped manage the bureau’s responses to media coverage of the laptop in real time. Benavides, meanwhile, claimed to have learned about the FBI’s possession of the laptop only from Wikipedia in 2023, though prosecutors argued he had maintained regular discussions about it with other officials prior to the 2020 election.
The arrests were announced by FBI Director Kash Patel, who as a former critic of the agency vowed to hold accountable officials he saw as politically motivated. The timing of the charges, less than two weeks ahead of the midterm elections, follows ongoing pressure from former President Donald Trump and his allies for the Justice Department to pursue legal action against perceived political opponents.
Republican lawmakers have long alleged that the FBI and the Biden administration’s Justice Department gave preferential treatment to Hunter Biden in contrast to their aggressive investigations of Trump and his associates. Hunter Biden faced separate gun and tax charges in 2023 and was later pardoned by his father near the end of Joe Biden’s presidential term. Critics argue the investigations were slow-moving compared to those targeting Trump.
Defense attorneys for Floris and Benavides dismissed the charges as politically motivated efforts to foster a false narrative, highlighting the unusual delay between the alleged conduct and the commencement of legal action. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui noted during the brief hearing that the facts appeared “quite old” and acknowledged that the case was being pursued through a complaint rather than a grand jury indictment. The defense also questioned the Justice Department’s decision to proceed with the case more than three years after the conduct in question. The defendants remain free pending further proceedings.