OMM Newsroom
Two former senior FBI officials were charged Friday with lying to Congress about their roles in the bureau’s investigations into Hunter Biden, according to Anadolu Agency.
Nikki Cole Floris, 46, and Bradley Benavides, 56, surrendered on arrest warrants after a criminal complaint charged each with one count of making false statements, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said.
“When senior FBI agents lie to Congress believing they are above the law, it’s time to bring the hammer of justice down on them,” US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement.
Prosecutors said Floris and Benavides told the House Judiciary Committee in 2023 that the now-dissolved Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) had not been involved in the Hunter Biden investigations.
Benavides testified that he learned the FBI had Hunter Biden’s laptop from a “Wikipedia” article in 2023. Prosecutors said he had regularly discussed the laptop with FBI officials before the 2020 election.
FBI Director Kash Patel said one of the defendants had privately claimed to be “running a shadow government” during the 2020 election.
Floris led the FITF as deputy assistant director from mid-2019 to mid-2022, while Benavides served as its section chief through the 2020 election.
Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, was convicted in June 2024 on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to federal tax charges that September. His father pardoned him in December 2024, before leaving office.
