Two Former FBI Officials Charged With Lying to Congress About Hunter Biden Laptop Probe

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (TodayViralUSA) — Two former senior FBI officials were charged Friday with lying to Congress about their role in the bureau’s investigations of Hunter Biden, including its handling of his laptop, in a case unsealed less than two weeks before the midterm elections.

Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, who held leading posts on the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force during the 2020 election, each face one count of making false statements to the House Judiciary Committee. Both surrendered and appeared in federal court in Washington, where the criminal complaint was unsealed, according to CBS News and Bloomberg Law.

What prosecutors allege

The complaint, brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, says Floris testified in July 2023 and Benavides in September 2023 that they had no involvement in the Hunter Biden investigations. Prosecutors say documents, communications and witness accounts show otherwise, and that the pair made the statements to conceal the task force’s involvement and impede the congressional inquiry.

According to the supporting affidavit, the FBI’s Baltimore office obtained the contents of the laptop in December 2019 from the Delaware repair shop where it had been left. The filing describes a task-force project known as “Round River” that collected informant reporting on Hunter Biden, among others, to flag it as possible Russian disinformation. An FBI unit chief interviewed this month told investigators both officials knew about and discussed the investigations.

The complaint quotes Floris answering “I did not” when asked whether she had any involvement in the case. It says Benavides told committee staff he learned of the criminal investigation tied to the laptop from Wikipedia while preparing for his interview.

Judge questions the timing

Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui called the way the case was charged “strange” and refused prosecutors’ request to delay a preliminary hearing by two weeks or more, ordering the parties back on Tuesday, CBS News reported. Benavides’ lawyer, Ron Safer, noted the government had held the information for years and asked for a hearing “as soon as humanly possible.”

Floris’ attorneys said she had been “falsely accused” and that it was “no coincidence” the charges came on the eve of an election. She served nearly 20 years at the FBI, they said.

Hunter Biden was convicted on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to tax offenses before his father pardoned him. He was never charged over his overseas business dealings.