Judge tosses charges against FBI agents on Hunter Biden case

A federal judge dismissed charges against two former FBI agents on Monday, according to a case docket at the District Court in Washington, D.C. Former agents Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides were accused on Oct. 20 of making false statements to Congress in 2023 about the Hunter Biden investigation.

U.S. District Judge Zia Faruqui read a ruling in court, saying that the charges were rushed and overtly political, according to the Associated Press. Faruqui said the charges amounted to weaponization by the DOJ in light of the Nov. 2 midterm elections. He said the case could have been presented anytime after the statements were made in 2023, but were explicitly chosen two weeks before the midterms, according to the AP.

What were the charges? Floris and Benavides were charged with making false statements to Congress about their involvement with the since-dissolved FBI Foreign Influence Task Force. For example, Floris told the House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee that she was involved in no discussions about Hunter Biden while she was at the task force. However, the prosecution alleged that Floris discussed the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden routinely for more than a year. Benavides testified that he knew the FBI had access to Hunter’s laptop only from reading a Wikipedia article in 2023, and did not have prior knowledge. However, Benavides regularly discussed the laptop with FBI officials in the lead-up to the 2020 election, the DOJ alleged.

The Department of Justice still may have an opportunity to pursue a grand jury indictment against the two former officials.

Dig Deeper: Read my earlier story about the initial charges.