Two former senior FBI officials have been criminally charged with lying to Congress about their involvement in investigations concerning Hunter Biden, with federal prosecutors alleging that the pair concealed their roles in shaping the public narrative surrounding his controversial laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, who held leadership positions in the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, surrendered to federal authorities Friday after being charged in connection with statements they made during congressional interviews in 2023.

The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro and FBI Director Kash Patel, who said investigators had uncovered evidence contradicting the former officials’ assertions that their task force played no role in the Hunter Biden investigations.

“Floris and Benavides allegedly lied to Congress about their roles in the FBI’s Hunter Biden investigations, with one claiming they only learned about it from Wikipedia – despite evidence showing their involvement in helping shape the public narrative about Hunter Biden’s laptop right before the election,” Pirro said.

The case centers on the FBI’s handling of information involving Hunter Biden during the closing months of the 2020 presidential campaign, when questions about the authenticity of his laptop and the bureau’s response to reporting about its contents became the subject of intense political controversy.

According to federal authorities, Floris and Benavides provided misleading accounts of their responsibilities while testifying before congressional investigators examining the FBI’s activities during that period.

Floris served as deputy assistant director overseeing the Foreign Influence Task Force from approximately the middle of 2019 until mid-2022. Benavides held the position of section chief of the same task force beginning in mid-2019 and continuing through the 2020 election.

Patel said both officials denied that the task force had participated in the bureau’s investigations involving Hunter Biden, despite records and testimony that investigators now contend demonstrate otherwise.

“Floris led the FITF as a Deputy Assistant Director from mid-2019 through mid-2022. Benavides was the FITF Section Chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election,” added Patel.

“Both testified that the FITF was not involved in the Hunter Biden investigations. Documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications, and witness accounts contradict their testimony,” the FBI boss said.

The FBI director also highlighted an alleged private remark by Floris that investigators apparently consider significant in assessing her role during the election period.

“Floris is also on record privately claiming to be ‘running a shadow government’ during the 2020 election in her role on the FITF,” he noted.

The allegation concerning the remark was presented by Patel as part of the government’s case against Floris. The full circumstances in which the statement was allegedly made were not detailed in the announcement.

A person familiar with the prosecution said the allegations arose from sworn transcribed interviews conducted by the House Judiciary Committee in 2023. Floris appeared before congressional investigators on July 19, while Benavides was questioned on September 28.

Both former officials have been charged with one count of making false statements to Congress, a federal offense. Prosecutors allege that their testimony misrepresented what they knew about the FBI’s Hunter Biden investigations and the extent of the Foreign Influence Task Force’s involvement.

Court documents released Friday indicate that investigators relied on internal communications, documentary records and witness accounts in developing the case. Prosecutors maintain that those materials demonstrate that the two officials possessed considerably more knowledge of the investigations than they acknowledged to lawmakers.

The Foreign Influence Task Force was established to address foreign interference in American elections, particularly following concerns about Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential race. Its activities during the 2020 campaign have since come under scrutiny from congressional Republicans who questioned whether federal law enforcement improperly influenced public discussion of politically sensitive information.

The controversy surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop began in October 2020, when the New York Post published reports based on material allegedly recovered from a computer he had left at a Delaware repair shop. The reports generated widespread political debate in the weeks before the presidential election.

Questions subsequently arose over how federal investigators handled the laptop and whether warnings about possible foreign disinformation contributed to skepticism about the reporting. The FBI had obtained the laptop in 2019, and material from it was later used in federal proceedings involving Hunter Biden.

The Justice Department’s criminal complaint alleges that Floris and Benavides attempted to conceal the task force’s involvement in discussions and activities connected to those investigations. The accusations concern their statements to Congress, rather than charges that they personally altered evidence or committed an offense in the underlying Hunter Biden investigation.

The prosecution has already drawn a forceful response from Floris’s attorneys, who accuse the Justice Department of bringing a politically motivated case.

“Nikki Floris is a patriot. She served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years. Yet today, the DOJ has accused her falsely of a crime on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts. It’s no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of an election,” her lawyers said.

Her attorneys also challenged the government’s motives, saying the charges were intended to advance a political narrative rather than address genuine criminal conduct.

“The government’s reasons for charging Nikki are as transparent as they are unjust: to push a false narrative for a shot at political points,” they said.

An attorney representing Benavides was not immediately available for comment when the charges were announced.

Both defendants appeared in federal court in Washington on Friday. Prosecutors did not seek to have them detained while the proceedings continue.

The case was brought through a criminal complaint rather than a grand jury indictment, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Tuesday. During the initial proceedings, the judge raised questions about the unusual timing and procedural posture of the prosecution.

The charges were announced just 11 days before the November 3 midterm elections, adding to the political attention surrounding a case involving actions taken during the 2020 presidential campaign.

The Foreign Influence Task Force was disbanded in 2025 after the Trump administration began reviewing the FBI’s handling of politically sensitive investigations and allegations of institutional bias.

For federal prosecutors, the case now centers on whether Floris and Benavides knowingly misled congressional investigators about their knowledge and activities. Their attorneys will have an opportunity to challenge the government’s evidence as the proceedings move forward.

The arrests represent a significant development in the continuing examination of the FBI’s conduct during the 2020 election, although the allegations remain unproven and both defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted.

The case is expected to draw further attention as investigators’ evidence and the defendants’ responses are examined in federal court.