DOJ charges two former FBI officials with lying to Congress on Hunter Biden probe

Federal prosecutors filed new criminal charges on Tuesday against two former FBI counterintelligence officials. The superseding complaint accuses Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides of obstructing a congressional proceeding and providing false statements to lawmakers. The allegations concern testimony the two officials provided regarding their roles in the bureau's investigations of Hunter Biden.

The document was filed early Tuesday morning, just hours before the defendants were scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington, D.C., for a preliminary hearing. At that hearing, defense attorneys are expected to question a government witness. The goal is to test the strength of the complaint and determine if the Justice Department can demonstrate probable cause for the crime.

The timing of the filing has drawn attention from former prosecutors and other federal officials. The charges relate to testimony given three years ago, and the decision to move forward so close to midterm elections has raised questions among legal experts. Criminal complaints in felony cases are typically reserved for exigent circumstances, such as ongoing threats to public safety or national security. Justice Department guidelines have generally urged prosecutors to avoid overt investigative steps on politically sensitive cases near a national election.

The filing of an unsworn and unsigned superseding complaint overnight has further fueled debate about the case's political nature. Floris' legal team issued a statement criticizing the move. "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 lawyers said.

The attorneys continued, "In our combined decades of DOJ service, we have never seen or even heard of something like this being filed." They argued that the public lodging of criminal charges must be authorized by a grand jury, a judge, or the defendant. The team stated the government took that power for itself in a desperate attempt to delay their client's right to challenge the charges in court.

The charges center on testimony given to a congressional committee on July 19, 2023, by Floris, and September 28, 2023, by Benavides. The complaint alleges the defendants knowingly and willfully provided materially false statements about their awareness of and involvement in the FBI's investigations. It claims this conduct corruptly obstructed the proper administration of the law. The specific statements concern their roles on the Foreign Influence Task Force and a counterintelligence operation known as Round River.

Floris served as the deputy assistant director of the FITF from mid-2019 through mid-2022. Benavides served as its section chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election. The complaint alleges the defendants made false statements to minimize or conceal the FITF's engagement with the Hunter Biden investigations and to impede the congressional investigation. The preliminary hearing is set to take place Tuesday in Washington, D.C.