Two former FBI officials charged with lying to Congress about Hunter Biden laptop investigation

The Justice Department's criminal complaint against two high-ranking former law enforcement officers revives a partisan dispute over the FBI's handling of the 2020 election while testing federal prosecutorial standards close to an election cycle.

• •Two former FBI leaders, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, were charged via criminal complaint with lying to Congress about their involvement in the Hunter Biden laptop investigation.
• •The defendants appeared in federal court in Washington before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, who scheduled a preliminary hearing for next Tuesday.
• •The criminal complaint alleges that Floris and Benavides downplayed their firsthand knowledge of the laptop during 2023 testimony to lawmakers.
• •The Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF), which the defendants formerly led, was established during the first Trump administration and disbanded in February 2025 by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
• •Defense attorneys for both defendants stated the criminal charges are baseless, political, and filed on the eve of an election.
• •A criminal complaint was used instead of a grand jury indictment, a rare move that prosecutors typically employ when there is an urgent need to take individuals into custody.
• •The Hunter Biden laptop was publicized in October 2020 after being dropped off at a Wilmington, Delaware, repair shop and obtained by Rudy Giuliani.
• •Then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe attested to the computer's authenticity in a Fox Business Network interview in 2020.
• •Hunter Biden was later convicted of gun and tax offenses and was pardoned by Joe Biden in his final weeks in office.
• •The Justice Department recently undertook other politically sensitive actions, including a search of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's home and a corruption indictment against Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas.