Two former senior FBI officials surrendered to federal authorities on Friday after being charged with lying to Congress about their involvement in investigations into Hunter Biden, the Department of Justice announced.
Nikki Floris, 46, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Bradley Benavides, 56, of Aiken, South Carolina, each face a single count of making false statements to lawmakers. Both officials previously led the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, a unit created to protect the 2020 election from foreign interference that was dissolved in February 2025. The charges stem from their 2023 testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
According to the DOJ, Floris testified under oath that she had no involvement in the FBI's Hunter Biden investigation and was unaware of his laptop, despite documentary evidence and witness accounts showing she discussed the matter routinely for more than a year within the task force and with other FBI officials. Benavides, meanwhile, told House investigators he learned about the laptop investigation from a Wikipedia page, yet prosecutors presented emails showing he regularly discussed the laptop with FBI colleagues in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election and met with the investigation team before his congressional interview.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced the charges, stating: "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." FBI Director Kash Patel said the charges "stem from an ongoing investigation into the since-dissolved FBI Foreign Influence Task Force" and noted that documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications, and witness accounts contradicted the officials' testimony.
Defense attorneys for both officials disputed the charges and challenged the timing. Floris's legal team called the accusations "nonsense" and emphasized that she is "a patriot" who "served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years." They stated: "It's no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of an election," and accused prosecutors of pushing "a false narrative for a shot at political points." Benavides's attorneys similarly characterized him as "a true patriot" who "devoted his career" to protecting Americans and called the charges "baseless" and "transparently political."
The timing of the charges is unusual. They were filed on October 20 and announced on Friday, October 23—less than two weeks before the November 3 midterm election. A magistrate judge noted during the Friday court appearance that it is "rare that we have charges this old coming in this nature." Prosecutors used a criminal complaint rather than a grand jury indictment, a procedure typically reserved for urgent situations requiring immediate custody.
According to DOJ filings, both officials assisted with the FBI's response to press inquiries after the New York Post published its October 14, 2020, story on Hunter Biden's laptop. In one exchange cited by prosecutors, Benavides characterized the laptop as a "Russian disinformation effort" in an October 16, 2020, email, to which Floris responded, "Looks good!" Both participated in an informal working group called "Round River" that compiled derogatory information about Hunter Biden. If convicted, each official faces up to five years in prison. A preliminary hearing was set for Tuesday, October 28.
