Two former senior FBI officials, Nikki Cole Floris, 46, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Bradley Benavides, 56, of Aiken, South Carolina, surrendered today on arrest warrants issued after a criminal complaint charged them with lying to Congress about their involvement in the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
“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,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “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.”
“The weaponization of government goes against the interest of the American people, and public servants, including federal law enforcement officials, cannot lie to Congress and get away with it,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Department of Justice will continue identifying and prosecuting those who break federal law.”
“This morning two former FBI members of the now dissolved Foreign Influence Task Force, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, were taken into custody – charged with allegedly lying to Congress in 2023 on matters regarding investigations related to the 2020 election. One of these individuals is on record privately claiming to be ‘running a shadow government’ during the 2020 election,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “As we’ve said repeatedly: weaponization will never be tolerated at this FBI. We have already dismantled the corrupt CR-15 squad that engaged in political weaponization targeting their opponents, including President Trump – and anyone who abuses their position of public trust will be held accountable.”
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.
Floris led the FITF as a Deputy Assistant Director from mid-2019 through mid-2022. Benavides was the FIFT 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.
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.
Source: USDOJ