FBI Laptop Testimony: Two Officials Indicted for Alleged Perjury
Prosecutors accuse former intelligence leads of concealing their roles in the Hunter Biden inquiry, a move that follows a wave of agent departures from the bureau.
By Min-jun Kim ·
Former FBI intelligence leaders Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides now face federal perjury charges for their 2023 congressional testimony. The Justice Department filed the indictment on Friday, alleging that both officials deliberately withheld information regarding their involvement in investigations connected to Hunter Biden. If a jury finds them guilty, each could serve a prison term of up to five years.
The prosecution rests on the claim that the two men misled the House Judiciary Committee about their knowledge of a laptop found by a computer shop owner in 2019. An FBI affidavit states that Floris, who led the intelligence division in the Washington field office, denied any contact with the case team. Prosecutors counter that she exchanged information with the unit for over a year. They also allege she coordinated the bureau's response to media reports about the laptop in real time, despite testifying that she knew nothing about the device.
Benavides, a former deputy assistant director for counterintelligence, told the committee he learned about the laptop from a Wikipedia entry while preparing for his appearance. The government says he was in constant communication about the matter for days leading up to his testimony. A member of the committee stated that these answers influenced the inquiry, specifically by stopping follow-up interviews and subpoenas.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro defended the action in a statement, arguing that the pair undermined the institutions they served. She described the alleged lies as a strike against the democratic system when senior agents believe they are above the law. "It's time to bring the hammer of justice down on them," Pirro said.
Defense attorneys have rejected the timeline and the evidence. Lawyers for Floris argued the government relied on political claims rather than facts, noting she served as an intelligence officer for nearly 20 years. They described the timing as coincidental to the upcoming election. Ron Safer, representing Benavides, asked the court to review whether prosecutors possess sufficient evidence against two long-term public servants.
US Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui expressed concern that the charges were filed more than three years after the original testimony. He noted the rarity of such delayed prosecutions in cases of this nature. Faruqui granted a defense request for an immediate evidentiary hearing, set for Tuesday. He observed that both defendants have strong law enforcement backgrounds and a desire to clear their names quickly. "There is a Sword of Damocles hanging over their head," he said.
The indictment arrives during a period of staff turnover at the FBI. Many agents who worked on investigations involving President Donald Trump have left the bureau since the start of his second term. Some former staff say they were dismissed for their work on those cases, while others cite a lack of displayed loyalty as the reason for their departure.
Source: The Jerusalem Post
