Two former senior FBI officials are due back in federal court Tuesday as they challenge criminal charges that they lied to Congress about their knowledge of investigations involving Hunter Biden. Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides each face one count of making a false statement in a matter within the jurisdiction of Congress. Prosecutors say their 2023 testimony about the FBI’s investigations into Biden and its Foreign Influence Task Force was contradicted by records, communications and witness accounts.
Both deny wrongdoing, and their lawyers have called the case politically motivated. The hearing in Washington comes days after the Justice Department announced the charges, less than two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections. The case has drawn attention to how prosecutors brought it and to the politically charged history of the FBI’s work related to Biden’s laptop.
Newsweek has reached out to counsel for Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI and an independent legal expert for comment and awaits responses. Floris led the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force from mid-2019 to mid-2022.
Benavides was a section chief on the task force from mid-2019 through the 2020 election. The unit was created to address foreign influence campaigns. The Justice Department alleges that both officials downplayed their knowledge of the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden during interviews with House Judiciary Committee staff in 2023.
According to prosecutors, Floris said she had not discussed Biden while serving on the task force. Benavides said he learned the FBI had the laptop from a Wikipedia article while preparing for his interview. The criminal complaint says documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications and witness accounts contradict those statements.
It alleges Floris discussed the investigations with FBI colleagues and helped coordinate the bureau’s response to news coverage of the laptop. Prosecutors also say Benavides discussed the laptop with FBI officials before the 2020 election. The allegations have not been proven in court, and Floris and Benavides are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
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