DOJ indicts two former FBI officials for alleged false testimony in Hunter Biden probe
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The Justice Department filed a superseding criminal complaint accusing former FBI counterintelligence officials of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation into Hunter Biden.
Federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., filed a superseding criminal complaint on Tuesday against former FBI counterintelligence officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides. The indictment alleges that the two provided materially false statements to a congressional committee about their awareness of FBI investigations involving Hunter Biden and that they obstructed the committee’s inquiry.
The complaint, which was filed without a signature or sworn affidavit, was submitted hours before Floris and Benavides were scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing. At that hearing, their attorneys are expected to question a government witness to assess the strength of the allegations and the Department of Justice’s basis for probable cause.
According to the filing, Floris served as deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) from mid-2019 to mid-2022, and Benavides was the task force’s section chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election. The indictment focuses on testimony they gave to the House committee in July and September 2023, which the complaint says was intended to minimize or conceal the FITF’s involvement in investigations related to Hunter Biden and to impede the congressional probe.
"What is going on at the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office? In the middle of the night, the government filed an unsigned and unsworn complaint attempting to fix the issues with their original charge against Ms. Floris and adding a new charge just as meritless as the first one," the defendants’ legal team said in a statement.
"In our combined decades of DOJ service, we have never seen or even heard of something like this being filed," the attorneys added, arguing that the filing bypasses typical procedural safeguards.
Criminal complaints in felony cases are generally reserved for situations involving ongoing threats to public safety or national security, and DOJ guidelines usually advise caution in pursuing politically sensitive actions close to elections. The timing of the filing, less than two weeks before the upcoming midterm elections, has prompted commentary from former prosecutors and other federal officials about the appropriateness of the move.