DOJ indicts two former top FBI officials who were frequent targets of Trump allies

WASHINGTON — Two former FBI officials who faced withering criticism from President Donald Trump’s allies have been charged with allegedly lying to Congress about the investigation into former President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

A court filing shows that Nikki Floris, a former deputy director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, and Bradley Benavides, another FBI official, were facing one count for a criminal offense that is rarely charged and can be difficult to prosecute.

Hunter Biden was investigated, charged and ultimately convicted of gun and tax crimes before his father pardoned him after leaving office.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said in a social media post that Floris and Benavides turned themselves in Friday morning. She alleged the duo lied about their roles on the Foreign Influence Task Force and “their roles in the FBI’s investigations of Hunter Biden.”

Floris’ lawyers said in a statement that Floris was “a patriot” who “served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years” and was indicted so the administration could “push a false narrative to make political points.”

Attorneys Margaret Donovan, Chris Mattei, Mary Dohrmann and Kyle R. Freeny said in a statement that “the DOJ falsely charged her with a crime based on what politicians said, not the facts. It is no coincidence that the government is making these absurd accusations now, years later, on the eve of an election.”

Benavides’ lawyer was not yet listed on the court docket.

The case was the subject of a criminal complaint. They have not yet been indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, where grand jurors have been skeptical of cases brought during Trump’s second term. Earlier this year, federal grand jurors rejected an attempt to indict six sitting Democratic members of Congress over a video criticized by Trump.

Flores was the FBI’s head of security for the 2020 presidential election, which Trump falsely claimed was stolen. A mob of Trump supporters violently broke into the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the certification of Democrat Joe Biden as president. They beat and bloodied the police, broke windows and broke through barriers.

She joined the FBI as an intelligence analyst in 2005, working on the director’s daily briefing team and helping produce intelligence documents. She was promoted in 2017 to the department’s counterterrorism division.

Benavides is a former colleague of Floris who focused on election security, foreign influence and threats from Chinese intelligence services.

Floris also faced criticism from Republicans for emails in which she discussed intelligence work obtained by Congress and declassified in July by Trump.

Republicans say FBI officials buried what they describe as a credible report about China’s efforts to influence the election in an effort to protect then-FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Intelligence officials and his legal team said the removal was a standard administrative action for a report that may have been unverified or contained erroneous intelligence.