Two former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials have been charged with lying to Congress about investigations into former President Joe Biden’s (D) son, Hunter Biden, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced Friday.
The suspects were identified as 46-year-old Nikki Cole Flores and 56-year-old Bradley Benavides who surrendered on arrest warrants Friday, the attorney’s office said:
Floris and Benavides each were charged with making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2). The charges stem from an ongoing investigation into the since-dissolved FBI Foreign Influence Task Force, or FITF, which led the FBI’s efforts to secure the 2020 election from foreign malign influence.
Evidence shows that Floris discussed the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden routinely for more than a year both within the FITF and with others in the FBI. Contrary to his assertion that he learned of the Hunter Biden laptop from Wikipedia, Benavides regularly discussed the laptop with FBI officials in the leadup to the 2020 election.
In a social media post Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel also announced the two ex-officials were taken into custody, noting Floris was “on record privately claiming to be ‘running a shadow government’ during the 2020 election in her role on the FITF.”
Patel continued by stating, “Lying to Congress by senior FBI officials strikes at the heart of our system. No one is above the law. The FBI has already dismantled the corrupt CR-15 squad that engaged in political weaponization targeting their opponents, including President Trump.”
The press release from the attorney’s office said Floris was head of the FITF from mid-2019 until mid-2022, while Benavides was its section chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election:
In the leadup to the 2020 election, the FBI had several investigations into Hunter Biden in which the FITF participated. In 2023, the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary interviewed both defendants about FITF’s role in the Hunter Biden investigations. Each defendant was warned that lying to Congress is a crime.
Floris and Benavides testified that the FITF was not involved in the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden. For example, Floris told the Judiciary Committee that she was involved in no discussions about Hunter Biden while she was at the FITF. Benavides testified that he only learned of the FBI’s possession of Hunter Biden’s laptop from reading a Wikipedia article in 2023.
However, the attorney’s office said, “According to an affidavit submitted in support of the criminal complaint against Floris and Benavides, documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications, and witness accounts contradict their Congressional testimony.”
In her comments about the case, Pirro said, “Lying to Congress by anyone strikes at the heart of our democratic system, but 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. When senior officials entrusted with safeguarding our nation’s security choose deception over duty, they undermine the very institutions they swore to uphold. Today’s action makes clear that no one is above the law, and we will hold accountable all who obstruct the truth.”
Meanwhile, the former president’s son responded to a Republican senator’s request in September for himself and President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., to testify before Congress regarding business dealings by stating, “Bring it on.”
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