Judge dismisses case against ex-FBI agents accused on lying to Congress in Hunter Biden probe

Nov. 2, 2026, 4:34 PM UTCMagistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said the case against Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides failed to establish probable cause for the charges against them. Hunter Biden arrives in federal court for jury selection for his trial on felony tax charges, in Los Angeles, in 2024.Jae C. Hong / APA judge on Monday dismissed a criminal complaint against a pair of former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress about what they knew about the Hunter Biden investigation, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui found the government had failed to show probable cause that Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides had lied to Congress about Hunter Biden’s laptop. The case was brought by criminal complaint rather than being presented to a federal grand jury in Washington, where jurors have been skeptical of politically-tinged cases against purported Trump enemies, most recently rejecting the attempted indictment of Cassidy Hutchinson. The complaint alleged that the duo lied about their roles on the Foreign Influence Task Force and “about their roles in the FBI’s Hunter Biden investigations” while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in 2023.The dismissal came after an FBI agent testified at a preliminary hearing last week that he was concerned the investigation, which had been directed by FBI Director Kash Patel, would be viewed as “political.” He also acknowledged a prosecutor on the case had acknowledged the criminal complaint was flawed in a telephone call last week.That prosecutor, Carlton Davis — a top aide to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro — is a former Republican Hill staffer who was also involved in the failed indictment of six sitting members of Congress over a social media video that President Donald Trump disfavored.Floris and Benavides had been targets of withering criticism from close allies of the president. Both had worked on security issues for the 2020 presidential election, which Trump has falsely claimed was stolen.Follow relevant topics