Prosecutors sought to add felony obstruction allegations through an unsigned, unsworn filing. The judge rejected it for lack of judicial authorization, and the hearing proceeded on the original allegations of lying to Congress.
US Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui rejected an unsigned, unsworn replacement complaint against former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides on October 27 because prosecutors had not obtained judicial authorization. The preliminary hearing proceeded on the original allegations that they lied to Congress, Fox News said.
The US Justice Department charged the two on October 23, alleging that they falsely denied involvement in investigations into Hunter Biden, including matters involving his laptop, during congressional testimony in 2023. Hunter Biden is the son of former US President Joe Biden. Both former officials surrendered on arrest warrants on October 23, the department said.
Prosecutors filed the superseding complaint—a document intended to replace the original criminal complaint—hours before the October 27 preliminary hearing. They sought to add felony obstruction allegations against both former officials. Faruqui said the replacement required judicial review and a finding of probable cause, meaning reasonable grounds to support the accusations.
The proposed filing also changed how prosecutors described the defendants’ involvement. It said Floris and Benavides had been “involved in” the Foreign Influence Task Force’s work concerning Hunter Biden, rather than at the “center” of those activities. It described Floris as participating in “conversations,” replacing the original reference to “scores of conversations.”
Floris’s lawyers argued that those changes called the factual basis of the prosecution into question. They also accused prosecutors of trying to repair the original charge and add another meritless allegation through an unauthorized filing, while delaying her opportunity to challenge the case in court and seeking publicity.
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Faruqui rejected the replacement complaint because it lacked the required authorization. That ruling was not an acquittal or a dismissal of the original charges.
Floris had served as a deputy assistant director and headed the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force; Benavides had been its section chief. In the original case, prosecutors allege that Floris falsely told the US House Judiciary Committee in 2023 that she had no involvement in the Hunter Biden investigation and that the task force had not discussed him. The department cites email logs it says show discussions with FBI colleagues, including task force members.
Asked where he learned that a criminal investigation related to the laptop was under way, Benavides said he had read the Wikipedia page about the story. The department says emails show that he discussed the story with FBI colleagues, contacted the team investigating Hunter Biden and met with that team before a meeting with lawmakers. Prosecutors allege those contacts contradict his account.
The laptop drew controversy before the 2020 election amid claims that it was part of a Russian disinformation operation. Fox News said the FBI later authenticated it during Hunter Biden’s 2024 federal gun trial, when prosecutors introduced it as evidence. The charges against Floris and Benavides concern their testimony about their involvement in the investigations.
After the October 23 charges, Floris’s lawyers said the department had falsely accused her based on politicians’ assertions rather than facts. They alleged political timing, questioning why prosecutors brought the case years later and, in their words, “on the eve of an election.”
Both former officials continue to face the original allegations, which remain accusations rather than findings of guilt. At the October 27 preliminary hearing, prosecutors had to establish probable cause for those allegations.
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