A federal magistrate judge on Monday, Nov. 2, dismissed a criminal complaint accusing former senior FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides of lying to Congress about their involvement in the bureau's Hunter Biden investigation. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said prosecutors had failed to establish the necessary evidence and questioned whether the prosecution's timing was tied to the midterm elections.
During an oral ruling lasting about an hour, Faruqui sharply criticized the Justice Department and FBI for rushing the case. He said the government had failed to establish each required element: that the statements were false, that the defendants knowingly and willfully made them, and that they were material. “Without motive, without direct evidence, I have nothing,” he said. He also described the proceedings as “weaponization.”
The Justice Department said it disagreed with the decision and was evaluating its options. A spokesperson said the ruling appeared to suggest senior government officials were immune from accountability for materially false statements to Congress, and maintained that the investigation was guided by evidence and law rather than politics. Prosecutors can appeal to the chief judge or seek an indictment from a grand jury.
The allegations concerned testimony Floris and Benavides gave the House Judiciary Committee in July and September 2023. Prosecutors focused on a Foreign Influence Task Force operation called Round River, which they said collected derogatory informant reporting involving Hunter Biden and other subjects to flag it as Russian disinformation. Both defendants held leadership positions within the task force and gave defensive briefings to Sens. Charles Grassley and Ron Johnson in August 2020.
Three days of testimony exposed weaknesses in the investigation. FBI Special Agent Bryan Witt said the case began at Director Kash Patel's request one day after President Donald Trump delivered a televised speech in July accusing intelligence officials of a coverup and ordering prosecutions. Witt said Patel and other senior FBI officials monitored the investigation's progress. He acknowledged concerns that the inquiry could appear political and said colleagues in the Kansas City field office worried it was a witch hunt.
Witt also testified that the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee would not let agents interview staff members who attended the defendants' testimony. The only person he was permitted to interview was Steve Castor, general counsel for the committee's Republicans, who had neither witnessed Benavides' testimony nor reviewed its transcript. Investigators did not speak with anyone representing committee Democrats. Career prosecutors identified the evidentiary problem before charges were filed.
Faruqui also criticized prosecutors' attempt to introduce obstruction charges through an unsigned, unsworn replacement complaint filed after midnight before the hearing began last Tuesday. He removed that document from the record because it lacked proper judicial review. Questioning why charges had to be brought in October 2026, he noted that no statute of limitations deadline was approaching and pointed to the midterm elections.
Floris and Benavides embraced outside the courtroom after the dismissal, with Floris crying in relief. Former senior Justice Department and FBI officials had attended to support them. Faruqui warned that the prosecution could undermine confidence in the Justice Department, discourage FBI recruitment and make witnesses less willing to testify voluntarily before Congress.
