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Judge dismisses case against FBI officials over Hunter Biden laptop

Summarised from 5 outlets · Updated 2 Nov, 18:34 · Archive

A federal judge has dismissed charges against two former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress about the Hunter Biden investigation.

A federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against two former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress about the investigation into Hunter Biden's laptop. On Monday, US Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui ruled that prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to proceed and found no probable cause for the charges against Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides.

Both officials faced a single count of making false statements to Congress. They were interviewed by the House Judiciary Committee in 2023 and alleged to have downplayed their knowledge of the FBI's Hunter Biden investigation. Benavides was reported to have told the committee he had learned details on Wikipedia.

Faruqui was highly critical of the Justice Department's handling of the case, calling it 'weaponization' rather than a legitimate investigation. He noted that the charges were filed on 20 October, two weeks before midterm elections. 'I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend that I cannot read a calendar,' Faruqui said in court. He also observed that the investigation began the day after a Trump address revisiting grievances about the 2020 election and was commissioned by FBI Director Kash Patel.

The judge raised concerns about procedural irregularities, including prosecutors filing an amended complaint with additional charges without first obtaining court approval—a practice Faruqui said he had never encountered before. He also noted that earlier obstruction charges were filed in unsigned and unsworn documents.

During the preliminary hearing, defence attorneys for the officials presented Floris as an overworked bureaucrat who supervised between 200 and 300 employees, and later up to 600 after a promotion. An FBI agent who testified for the prosecution expressed personal concerns that the investigation would be viewed as political.

The Hunter Biden laptop story was first reported by the New York Post in October 2020. An FBI agent later confirmed the laptop was Biden's during his 2024 gun trial, despite earlier claims by 51 former intelligence officials suggesting it might be Russian disinformation.

While the judge's dismissal is a significant defeat for prosecutors, the Justice Department could still attempt to secure a grand jury indictment against the two former officials.

Judge dismisses case against FBI officials over Hunter Biden laptop
Image: UPI

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How it is being reported

In this story: Nikki Floris · Bradley Benavides · Zia Faruqui · Hunter Biden · Kash Patel · FBI · House Judiciary Committee · Department of Justice

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log