WASHINGTON — A U.S. magistrate judge on Monday dismissed a criminal complaint against two former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress about the Hunter Biden investigation, citing the government's failure to establish probable cause.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui ruled that the complaint against Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides was insufficient. The pair were accused of providing false statements to the House Judiciary Committee in 2023 regarding their roles on the Foreign Influence Task Force and the FBI's investigation into President Joe Biden's son.
The case was pursued through a criminal complaint rather than a federal grand jury indictment. That procedural choice has drawn scrutiny in Washington, where grand juries have recently rejected politically charged cases against allies of former President Donald Trump, most notably the attempted indictment of former Cassidy Hutchinson aide.
At a preliminary hearing last week, an FBI agent testified he was concerned the investigation, directed by FBI Director Kash Patel, would be viewed as political. The same prosecutor, Carlton Davis, acknowledged the complaint was flawed during a telephone call last week, according to people familiar with the matter.
Davis, a top aide to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, is a former Republican Hill staffer who was involved in the failed indictment of six sitting members of Congress over a social media video that Trump disfavored.
Floris and Benavides had worked on security issues for the 2020 presidential election, which Trump has falsely claimed was stolen. Both faced withering criticism from allies of the president.
The dismissal means no further criminal proceedings will be brought against the two former agents on these charges.
(Reporting by NBC News staff)
