Judge Dismisses Case Against Two Ex-FBI Officials, Says Timing Points to Midterms

A federal magistrate judge in Washington dismissed a criminal complaint on Monday against two former senior FBI counterintelligence officials who were accused of lying to Congress about the bureau's Hunter Biden investigation, saying the case lacked evidence and appeared to be timed for the midterm elections.

Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, in an hour-long oral ruling, called the case "slapdash." He said prosecutors had not met the probable-cause standard on any of the three elements of a false-statements charge: falsity, knowing and willful intent, and materiality. The defendants are Nikki Floris, a former intelligence analyst in charge at the FBI's Washington Field Office, and Bradley Benavides, a former deputy assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division.

Faruqui questioned why the case was brought in October 2026 when the statute of limitations was not close to expiring. He quoted the Justice Department Manual, which bars steps meant to influence an election, and said the midterms were the only apparent reason for the timing. He described what had happened as "weaponization" and compared the government's case unfavorably with the prosecutions of Michael Flynn and Scooter Libby.

The charges rested on testimony Floris and Benavides gave to the House Judiciary Committee in July and September 2023 about an FBI operation called Round River, run by the Foreign Influence Task Force. Floris was the task force's deputy assistant director from mid-2019 to mid-2022, and Benavides was its section chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election. In August 2020 the two gave defensive briefings to Sens. Charles Grassley and Ron Johnson.

Prosecutors used a criminal complaint, a tool normally reserved for urgent public-safety or national-security cases, instead of first seeking a grand jury indictment. Days before the hearing, after midnight, they filed an unsigned, unsworn superseding complaint that added obstruction-of-Congress charges. Faruqui struck it from the record.

Testimony during the three-day hearing damaged the government's position. FBI Special Agent Bryan Witt said the investigation was opened at the request of FBI Director Kash Patel, one day after President Trump's televised speech in July. Witt said he worried the case could be seen as political and that colleagues in the Kansas City field office viewed it as a possible witch hunt. He acknowledged that the only person he interviewed about the testimony was Steve Castor, general counsel for the committee's Republicans, who had not watched the hearing or read the transcript. The committee's Republican majority did not let the FBI interview congressional staffers who were present, and Witt spoke with no Democratic staff.

A recording released to defense lawyers captured Carlton Davis, a political appointee and special counsel to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, acknowledging the materiality problem. Faruqui quoted him as saying, "I realize this is our f***-up." The judge also noted errors in the original complaint and said Witt made misstatements on the stand, though he did not find them criminal.

Faruqui warned that the case could deter FBI recruitment, chill testimony before Congress and erode trust in the Justice Department. He said the defendants, along with the career prosecutors and agents involved, had been treated unfairly. Floris cried with relief outside the courtroom, and the two embraced. Her attorney, Margaret Donovan, said the case "should have never been brought."

The Justice Department could appeal to the chief judge or seek a grand jury indictment. CBS News said it had asked the department, the FBI and the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office for comment.