Follow-Up: Two Former FBI Officials Make First Appearance in Federal Court in Washington, Released Pending Trial as Defense Cites Politicians' Claims
WASHINGTON — Two former senior FBI officials charged with lying to Congress, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, made their first appearance on Friday morning in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington. According to CNN, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said in court that the charges are related to "Hunter Biden's laptop and allegations around that." The two were released without detention while they await trial, and a hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Earlier in the day, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced that the two had surrendered to authorities. The complaint charges each with one count of making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, under 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(2): prosecutors say that in 2023 testimony to the House Judiciary Committee about the role of the since-dissolved FBI Foreign Influence Task Force in the Hunter Biden investigations, the two made statements contradicted by the evidence. FBI Director Kash Patel said one of them had privately claimed to be "running a shadow government" during the 2020 election.
In a statement after the appearance, Floris's defense attorneys said she is being falsely accused "on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts," and called her "a patriot." The statement said it was no coincidence that the government was filing the charges years later, on the eve of an election, to push a false narrative for political points. A lawyer for Benavides could not immediately be reached for comment, according to Reuters.
The charges come less than two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections. Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, was convicted by a federal jury on tax and gun charges and was later pardoned by his father around Thanksgiving 2024.
The charges in a criminal complaint are merely allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
来源：GSM·美国
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的 E. Barrett Prettyman 美国法院大楼，美国哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院所在地，两名被告在此首次出庭。照片：Tony Webster，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, home to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where the two defendants made their first appearance. Photo: Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-23Follow-Up: Two Former FBI Officials Make First Appearance in Federal Court in Washington, Released Pending Trial as Defense Cites Politicians' ClaimsThis story
- 2026-10-24Two Former Senior FBI Officials Charged With Lying to Congress Over Hunter Biden Investigations
