Magistrate-Signed Complaint Puts Ex-FBI Leaders on Trial

A magistrate judge signed the criminal complaint charging two former FBI officials, bypassing the grand jury process typically required for federal indictments. Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, who led the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, appear in Washington federal court on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.

Prosecutors accuse the former agents of lying to Congress in 2023 about their knowledge of a laptop allegedly abandoned by Hunter Biden at a Delaware computer repair shop in 2019. The case challenges the testimony Floris and Benavides provided during their time leading the task force, which was established during the first Trump administration to track foreign influence campaigns.

Defense attorneys plan to contest the legal basis of the prosecution at Tuesday’s hearing. They argue the unusual procedural path, specifically the use of a signed complaint rather than a grand jury indictment, weakens the state’s case. Their legal team has described the charges as baseless and politically motivated.

The task force was disbanded in February 2025 by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. Congressional Republicans criticized the unit while it was active, claiming it attempted to link their investigations into the Biden family with Russian disinformation efforts. The complaint alleges the former agents denied participating in internal FBI conversations about the laptop while briefing lawmakers.

The underlying controversy traces back to the 2020 presidential race. The New York Post reported on emails found on the laptop, which detailed Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. The paper stated it obtained the hard drive from Rudy Giuliani, a close ally of President Donald Trump.

Democrats and former intelligence officials raised concerns about the laptop’s provenance, noting that Trump’s National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe had assessed Moscow was trying to undermine Joe Biden’s candidacy. Ratcliffe later stated there were no signs of Russian involvement in the laptop’s discovery. The FBI subsequently investigated Hunter Biden on gun and tax charges, resulting in felony convictions. President Joe Biden pardoned his son in late 2024.

The Justice Department announced the prosecution on Friday. This criminal case against former employees comes just days before next week’s midterm elections. Floris and Benavides were among the officials who briefed Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson in August 2020 during the senators’ investigation into Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine.