Floris and Benavides Indicted Over 2023 Laptop Testimony
Prosecutors allege the former FBI intelligence leaders concealed their roles in Hunter Biden probes while testifying before Congress, a claim their lawyers dispute as politically motivated.
By Christopher Singh ·
Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, two former senior FBI officials, have been charged with perjury for allegedly lying to Congress about the bureau's handling of investigations involving Hunter Biden. The Justice Department announced the indictment on Friday. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum prison sentence of five years. They appeared before a federal magistrate judge on the same day and were subsequently released.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office is leading the prosecution. In a statement, Pirro said the pair undermined the institutions they served. She described their actions as a strike against the democratic system, noting that when senior agents believe they are above the law, it is time for the government to act. The indictment alleges that both officials intentionally concealed information while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in 2023.
According to an FBI affidavit, Floris repeatedly denied any involvement in the Hunter Biden investigations during her testimony. The document states that she was actually in frequent communication with the case team for more than a year. It further alleges she coordinated the FBI’s response to news articles about the laptop in real time, despite testifying that she knew nothing about the device.
Benavides testified a few months after Floris. He told the committee he knew little about the matter and claimed he learned about the laptop from a Wikipedia entry while preparing his testimony. The affidavit counters that he was in constant communication about the laptop over a period of days. A member of the House Judiciary Committee said these answers influenced the investigation by thwarting follow-up interviews and subpoenas.
Lawyers for Floris rejected the allegations, stating that the Justice Department accused her based on the say-so of politicians rather than facts. They described her as a patriot who served as an FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years. Their attorneys argued it was no coincidence that the government filed these charges years later, on the eve of an election. Ron Safer, the attorney for Benavides, urged the court to hold a hearing on whether prosecutors had sufficient evidence against two lifetime public servants.
US Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui raised concerns about the timing of the charges. He asked whether the alleged false statements had a material impact on the investigation. Faruqui granted the defense’s request for a hearing to weigh the government's evidence, setting it for Tuesday. He noted that such an early hearing is rare for defendants who have been released. He observed that the information appeared quite old, as the charges were filed more than three years after the testimony.
Faruqui said both defendants had sparkling backgrounds in law enforcement and an interest in clearing their names quickly. He described a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, adding that the matter would follow them for the rest of their lives. The laptop at the center of the case has long been a partisan flashpoint. Republicans say it holds evidence of corruption in the Biden family, while Democrats describe it as part of a Republican conspiracy.
The laptop was handed to the FBI in 2019. A computer shop owner told the Washington Post he turned it over to authorities after viewing some of its contents. He said Hunter Biden had dropped it off and never returned to collect it. The case comes as many FBI agents whom allies of President Donald Trump accused of working against him have been pushed out of the bureau since the start of his second term. Some of those dismissed say they were fired for working on investigations involving Trump, while others say they were let go for not showing enough loyalty.
