WASHINGTON — Two former senior FBI officials have been charged with lying to Congress during 2023 testimony about the bureau’s investigations involving Hunter Biden’s laptop, CBS News and The Associated Press reported, in a case brought by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office in Washington.
Nikki Floris, 46, a former intelligence analyst in charge at the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Bradley Benavides, 56, a former deputy assistant director in the Counterintelligence Division, appeared in federal court in Washington on Friday and were each charged in a criminal complaint with one count of making false statements to Congress, CBS News reported.
The complaint alleges Floris lied to the House Judiciary Committee on July 19, 2023, and Benavides in September 2023, about “their awareness of involvement in the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden.” In his interview, Benavides told investigators he had learned some details about the laptop investigation from Wikipedia while preparing, the complaint said.
Prosecutors say the statements were meant to conceal the Foreign Influence Task Force’s engagement with the Hunter Biden investigations. The complaint centres on a task force operation known as “Round River,” which it said collected “derogatory informant reporting on, among other things, Hunter Biden, to flag the reporting as Russian disinformation.” It also says the two gave defensive briefings to Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson in August 2020.
A criminal complaint is an allegation, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, The Associated Press, CBS News
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