US charges two former FBI officials with lying to Congress about Hunter Biden probes. 'Politically motivated' Trump grievance or something else?

The US Justice Department has charged two former senior FBI officials with lying to Congress about their knowledge of investigations into Hunter Biden, according to court documents made public on Friday (Oct 23).

Nikki Floris, 46, and Bradley Benavides, 56, who each held senior counterintelligence roles at the FBI, were charged in federal court in Washington. They allegedly misled a House panel about the role of an FBI foreign influence task force in investigations into Hunter Biden, according to a criminal complaint.

Floris and Benavides served in leading roles on the FBI foreign influence task force, a group aimed at combating attempts to influence US elections that was disbanded during the second Trump administration after facing criticism from Republicans. The officials briefed two Republican senators in 2020, warning them of US intelligence concerns that some allegations against Hunter Biden were part of a Russian influence operation, according to prior media reports.

'Politically motivated' or 'a disgrace'?

Lawyers for Floris condemned the case as the latest in a string of politically motivated prosecutions by the DOJ under the Trump administration.

"The government's reasons for charging Nikki are as transparent as they are unjust: to push a false narrative for a shot at political points," Floris' lawyers said in a statement. A lawyer for Benavides called the charges a "disgrace" and said Benavides is a "true patriot who devoted his career to protecting this country and its people."

Floris and Benavides made an initial court appearance on Friday. A federal grand jury in Washington will have to approve an indictment for the case to move forward.

"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," US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro wrote in a social media post.

A Trump grievance

The case centres on an issue that has long been a focus of Trump and his allies: the FBI's handling of a laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden that surfaced in the weeks before the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden.

The complaint alleges that Floris and Benavides lied to the House Judiciary Committee in 2023 testimony, where they each claimed little knowledge of the Hunter Biden investigation and the laptop episode. It alleges they were in contact with members of the Hunter Biden investigative team in 2020 and took part in the FBI's response to public reporting on the laptop. Benavides told the House panel he learned about the probes through searching on Wikipedia, according to the complaint.

Hunter Biden was later charged with federal gun and tax-related crimes during his father's administration. Joe Biden pardoned his son shortly before leaving office.

The case against Floris and Benavides does not allege the FBI suppressed the laptop story, a claim Trump and his allies have long made.

Notably, the DOJ under Trump has also investigated the US intelligence community's finding that Russia sought to aid Trump's 2016 campaign and the FBI raid of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in 2022, a probe mired in staff turmoil. The DOJ had previously also brought charges against former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly lying to Congress about media leaks, a case later dismissed.