Judge Dismisses DOJ Case Against Former FBI Officials Over Hunter Biden Probes

The federal government's criminal case against two former FBI officials ended Monday after a judge declared the prosecution flawed. U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui in Washington, D.C., dismissed the charges against Bradley Benavides and Nikki Floris. They had been accused of lying to Congress in 2023 regarding their knowledge of the bureau's investigations into former President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.

The timing of the dismissal places the decision just one day before the midterm elections. Benavides and Floris faced these charges for approximately two weeks. The Justice Department initiated the probe under orders from FBI Director Kash Patel. This happened the day after President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address in mid-July. In that speech, Trump urged the FBI to investigate the former president's son while repeating his claims about fraud in the 2020 election.

During a preliminary hearing last week, Faruqui examined whether probable cause existed. He heard testimony from one of the FBI agents who investigated the case. The judge found the investigation rushed and full of errors. He stated that the sequence of events could only be described as weaponization. Faruqi noted that the alleged false statements occurred in 2023, yet prosecutors waited three years to act. They filed charges as a criminal complaint, a format typically reserved for urgent situations like imminent danger or flight risk. None of those factors applied here.

The judge pointed to a specific Justice Department policy that prohibits timing actions to influence an election. He observed that the only looming event was the midterms. Faruqi said he would not ignore the calendar. He also suggested prosecutors might avoid a grand jury due to the department's recent record in Washington, D.C. Several grand juries in the capital have recently declined to return indictments in high-profile cases.

A Justice Department spokesperson disagreed with the ruling. The department stated that high-ranking officials are not immune from accountability for false statements to Congress. Officials are evaluating all options while guided by the facts, evidence, and law. The department noted it could appeal the decision to the district's chief judge or take the case to a grand jury to secure an indictment.

Outside the courtroom, former senior FBI officials gathered to support Benavides and Floris. Floris, visibly emotional, hugged colleagues before embracing Benavides. Margaret Donovan, one of Floris' attorneys, described the case as a slap-dash complaint driven by conspiracy theories. She asserted that the government had no case and that the truth prevailed in the courtroom.

The dismissal leaves the former officials free of current criminal charges, though the legal path remains open for prosecutors to retry the matter through different procedural means.