A federal judge has thrown out a case against two former FBI officials who were charged with lying to Congress as part of a probe that focused on whether FBI investigators sought to minimize allegations of Biden family corruption and evidence related to Hunter Biden’s laptop.
“I am deeply troubled by what has happened in this case,” Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said during a Monday hearing announcing his dismissal of the case, adding the case was built on assumptions and filed at the direction of President Donald Trump.
The case, he added, could not be seen “as anything other than weaponization,” adding that it has been “marketing material for people not to join the FBI.”
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Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, both former top Washington-based intelligence specialists, were charged with one count of making a false statement. After the initial charges, prosecutors had added an additional obstruction charge that hadn’t been signed by a judge or law enforcement officer.
The charges, which came less than two weeks before Election Day, were related to statements Floris and Benavides made to the House Judiciary Committee in 2023 as Republicans questioned an FBI election interference task force’s involvement in the Hunter Biden investigations.
Faruqui oversaw days of arguments over the charges before dismissing the case on Monday, finding it lacked probable cause.
This story is developing and will be updated.
