Two Former FBI Officials Charged with Lying to Congress About Hunter Biden Laptop and Investigations

Two former senior FBI officials surrendered Friday on charges of making false statements to Congress about their roles in the bureau’s investigations involving Hunter Biden, including matters related to his laptop, according to the Department of Justice.

Nikki Cole Floris, 46, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Bradley Benavides, 56, of Aiken, South Carolina, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with one count each of making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, under 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2). Both appeared in federal court Friday morning after surrendering on arrest warrants. The charges arise from an investigation into the now-dissolved FBI Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF), which handled efforts concerning foreign influence in the 2020 election.

Floris served as deputy assistant director and functional head of the FITF from mid-2019 through mid-2022. Benavides served as section chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election. In 2023 interviews with the House Judiciary Committee, both testified that the FITF was not involved in the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden. Floris stated she participated in no discussions about Hunter Biden while at the FITF. Benavides said he first learned the FBI possessed Hunter Biden’s laptop by reading a Wikipedia article in 2023.

An affidavit supporting the complaint states that documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications, and witness accounts contradict those statements. According to the Justice Department, Floris discussed the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden routinely for more than a year within the FITF and with other FBI personnel. Benavides regularly discussed the laptop with FBI officials in the period leading up to the 2020 election, the department said.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro stated, “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.” Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice “will continue identifying and prosecuting those who break federal law.” FBI Director Kash Patel noted that one of the officials is “on record privately claiming to be ‘running a shadow government’ during the 2020 election.” He added that documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications, and witness accounts contradict the testimony that the FITF was not involved in the Hunter Biden investigations.

Attorneys for Floris said in a statement that she “is a patriot” who “served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years” and that the charges are “nonsense” filed “on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts,” and timed “on the eve of an election.” The case has not yet been presented to a grand jury for indictment. Charges in a complaint are allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the Justice Department noted.

The FBI acquired the laptop in December 2019. Its contents, including emails concerning foreign business dealings, were reported by the New York Post in October 2020. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said the officials had briefed him and Sen. Ron Johnson in August 2020 on matters related to their investigation of Hunter Biden, and that subsequent actions falsely labeled the senators’ work as advancing Russian disinformation. Grassley stated the charges represent “accountability efforts in action.”

The Foreign Influence Task Force was disbanded in 2025. The investigation into the officials was led out of the FBI’s Kansas City field office, according to reporting on the affidavit. A further hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.