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By Faye James
US news reporter
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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.
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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.
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What Are the Former FBI Officials Accused Of?
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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Why Was the Case Brought by Criminal Complaint?
The Justice Department charged the pair under 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2), which prohibits knowingly and willfully making materially false statements in matters within federal jurisdiction, including congressional proceedings.
The case was initiated by a criminal complaint rather than a grand jury indictment. A complaint sets out allegations and can support arrest warrants; it is not a finding of guilt. Prosecutors had not presented the allegations to a grand jury for an indictment as of the scheduled hearing.
At their first court appearance, defense lawyers asked for a prompt hearing to contest the allegations. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui set the preliminary hearing for Tuesday over prosecutors’ request for more time. The proceeding is expected to address whether there is probable cause to move the case forward; it is not a trial on guilt or innocence.
Floris’ attorneys said the government had accused her falsely and described the timing as politically motivated. Benavides’ lawyers called the charges baseless and said they would contest them in court.
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How Does the Case Connect to the 2020 Laptop Controversy?
The case revisits a dispute that intensified in the final weeks of the 2020 presidential election, after the New York Post published a report about a laptop it said Hunter Biden had left at a Delaware computer repair shop.
The laptop’s origins and contents became part of a broader debate over possible foreign interference. Then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said there was no indication the laptop was connected to Russian actors. The FBI said at the time it had nothing to add to his statement.
The Foreign Influence Task Force’s role in the matter later became a focus of congressional scrutiny. The FBI disbanded the task force in February 2025. The current case concerns what Floris and Benavides told lawmakers in 2023 about their knowledge and involvement, not the truth of every claim made publicly about the laptop.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and James Debens
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