Two former senior FBI officials, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, have been charged with making false statements to Congress about their roles in matters related to the investigation of Hunter Biden. Both previously served on the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force and face one count each of making false statements, according to criminal complaints.
Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides
You may recall, Nikki Floris was the FBI employee to have claimed to be running a shadow government over President Donald Trump regarding the Chinese’s involvement in the theft of the 2020 election.
These charges center on testimony the pair gave in transcribed interviews. Floris and Benavides stated that the Foreign Influence Task Force had essentially no involvement in or discussions regarding Hunter Biden, the contents of his laptop, related investigations, or the September 2020 Senate report by Sens. Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley on Biden family foreign dealings. An affidavit supporting the charges argues that these statements were false. It contends that documents, emails, instant messages, meeting records, and subsequent witness interviews—including interviews of FBI personnel conducted in October 2026—contradict the testimony and show the statements were intended to conceal the task force’s role and impede the congressional inquiry.
COURT FILING: Bradley Benavides discussing the laptop
The Baltimore Field Office had been investigating Hunter Biden for tax and money-laundering offenses since late 2019. Investigators obtained the contents of his laptop on December 9, 2019. On the day the New York Post published its reporting on the laptop, Floris and Benavides assisted with internal and congressional responses. They handled emails and queries about whether the FBI possessed the device and helped coordinate talking points. Benavides messaged the Baltimore assistant special agent in charge for specifics on the property receipt dates of December 3 and December 9, 2019, and met with Criminal Division personnel about the matter. Floris coordinated responses and forwarded related materials.
Bradley Benavides staging the Russia disinformation narrative regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop
One of the officials claimed to have learned of the investigation into the former president’s son from Wikipedia. The affidavit maintains this account does not align with evidence of their involvement in shaping the public narrative around the laptop in the period shortly before the election.
Floris has previously drawn attention for a separate statement in which she described the FBI as “basically running a shadow government.” That remark concerned allegations that China was manufacturing fraudulent driver’s licenses as part of a mail-in ballot scheme.
The charges focus on the accuracy of the officials’ accounts of their knowledge and actions rather than the underlying merits of the Hunter Biden investigations themselves. Both are accused of concealing the Foreign Influence Task Force’s awareness of and engagement with those matters during their congressional testimony.
