DOJ Adds Obstruction Charges Against Former FBI Officials
The Justice Department filed a superseding criminal complaint on October 27 accusing former FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides of obstructing a congressional proceeding and making false statements to lawmakers. The new allegations came hours before a preliminary hearing in Washington, where the pair are expected to challenge the case and question a government witness about whether prosecutors can show probable cause for it to proceed.
The complaint concerns testimony the officials gave to a House committee in 2023 about their knowledge of FBI investigations involving Hunter Biden and their work on the bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force. Prosecutors allege the officials misrepresented their awareness and involvement to conceal the task force’s communications about the investigations and impede the committee’s work. The claims remain unproven before a judge. Floris and Benavides deny wrongdoing.
The new filing was described as unsigned and unsworn. Floris’ lawyers criticized the government’s handling of it, arguing that the filing and added charge were improper and intended to delay their client’s court challenge. The original charges were brought through a prosecutor-filed complaint, not an indictment returned by a grand jury, a point defense lawyers were already expected to contest at the hearing.
The case has drawn scrutiny because it concerns testimony given more than three years ago and was brought shortly before the November 3 midterms. The officials held leadership roles in the task force, which was disbanded in February 2025. The dispute revisits the political controversy surrounding the laptop and the FBI’s work related to it during the 2020 election.
DOJ Escalates Case Against Ex-FBI Officials Before Midterms
The Justice Department has expanded its case against former FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, filing new obstruction and false-statement allegations on October 27, hours before their court hearing in Washington. The case targets testimony from 2023 about the bureau’s Hunter Biden investigations and its Foreign Influence Task Force, but the timing—so close to the November 3 midterms—has intensified concerns about politically sensitive prosecutions.
Prosecutors allege the officials misrepresented what they knew and did, seeking to conceal the task force’s communications and hinder a congressional inquiry. Those claims remain unproven. The officials deny wrongdoing, and Floris’ lawyers called the new filing improper, saying the government was trying to blunt her chance to challenge the case in court.
The prosecution began through a criminal complaint, not a grand jury indictment, and the latest filing was described as unsigned and unsworn. At the hearing, defense lawyers are expected to test whether prosecutors can establish probable cause and to challenge how the charges were brought. The case involves events more than three years old, while the task force at its center was disbanded in February 2025.
The controversy is not just about what the officials told Congress. It is also about whether the Justice Department is using an unusually consequential criminal case in an election season, raising the risk that prosecutions will be seen as political instruments rather than even-handed enforcement.
Former FBI Officials Face New Charges Over Biden Probe Testimony
The Justice Department has broadened its case against former FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, accusing them of obstructing a congressional proceeding as well as making false statements about their involvement in FBI inquiries tied to Hunter Biden. The new filing came on October 27, before a hearing in Washington and just ahead of the November 3 midterms.
Prosecutors say the officials downplayed their knowledge of the investigations and the Foreign Influence Task Force’s communications, thereby impeding Congress. The allegations remain unproven, and both defendants deny wrongdoing. But the case puts renewed focus on whether federal officials gave lawmakers a candid account of the bureau’s actions during a politically charged investigation.
The original case came through a prosecutor-filed complaint, not an indictment returned by a grand jury. The latest filing was described as unsigned and unsworn, and the defense is likely to dispute the prosecution and the government’s presentation at the hearing. Floris’ attorneys argue the new move is improper; the court proceeding is expected to address probable cause, not determine guilt.
The task force, created to address foreign influence campaigns, was disbanded in February 2025. Its former leaders’ testimony about the Hunter Biden matter now faces criminal scrutiny. The timing has prompted questions about the prosecution, but the seriousness of allegations that officials misled Congress should not be lost amid disputes over election-season optics.
Reported by Local 10 Miami, ABC News, Newsweek, The Washington Examiner, CBS News, Daily Mail US, New York Post, MSNBC, Townhall.
