Judge drops criminal case against two ex-FBI agents over Hunter Biden laptop testimony

A federal judge in Washington D.C. dismissed a criminal complaint on Monday against two former FBI officials. The agents, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, were accused of lying to Congress about their involvement in the Hunter Biden laptop investigation. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui determined the government did not meet the legal standard for probable cause to move the case forward.

The complaint alleged that Floris and Benavides provided false information to the House Judiciary Committee in 2023. Specifically, prosecutors claimed they lied about their roles on the Foreign Influence Task Force and their participation in the FBI’s handling of the laptop data. That data had previously led to successful criminal charges against Joe Biden’s son. The case was filed via a criminal complaint rather than being presented to a grand jury.

The dismissal followed a preliminary hearing where an FBI agent expressed concern that the investigation would be viewed as political. The probe had been directed by FBI Director Kash Patel. During the same hearing, a prosecutor admitted in a telephone call that the complaint was flawed. That prosecutor, Carlton Davis, serves as a top aide to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro in the District of Columbia. Davis is a former Republican Hill staffer who also worked on a failed attempt to indict six members of Congress over a social media video.

Floris and Benavides had faced criticism from close allies of President Donald Trump. Both agents worked on security issues for the 2020 presidential election. Trump has previously claimed that election was stolen. Faruqui had previously criticized the government for trying to add charges by filing a new, unsigned complaint on the court docket without judicial permission.

Attorneys for Benavides issued a statement praising the ruling. They described the accusations as political theater and called their client a patriot and public servant. The legal team stated that Judge Faruqui carefully weighed the evidence and found the government could not meet the burden of probable cause. The lawyers also expressed hope that the government would not take the case to a grand jury to charge the agents behind closed doors.

The Justice Department could theoretically attempt to secure an indictment from federal grand jurors. However, that path appears unlikely given the judge’s finding that the initial complaint did not meet the required legal threshold. Pirro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.

The case ended at the preliminary stage, leaving Floris and Benavides without the criminal charges that were pending since 2023. The ruling stands as a final determination on the specific complaint filed by the government.