Two former FBI officials charged with lying to Congress over Hunter Biden laptop probe

What the charges allege

Two former Federal Bureau of Investigation officials, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, were charged on Friday, 23 October 2026, with lying to Congress. Prosecutors say that in testimony given three years earlier, the pair falsely minimized their work on investigations involving Hunter Biden, the son of former president Joe Biden. Each faces a single count, and the charges were laid in a 27-page criminal complaint filed in federal district court in Washington. The complaint alleges that the statements they gave to the House Judiciary Committee contradicted messages sent during the same period. Both appeared in federal court in Washington on Friday before Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, and the charges were announced by FBI Director Kash Patel.

The task force at the centre

Floris and Benavides both served on the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, a unit created after Russia interfered in the 2016 election. The unit helped intelligence agencies monitor covert foreign efforts to manipulate American politics, including by warning politicians and social media companies about covert meddling. Floris and Benavides had overseen the unit when Hunter Biden's laptop was found, and they told Congress that the unit was not involved in the laptop investigation. Members of the task force had relayed intelligence warnings about a covert Russian disinformation operation aimed at helping Donald Trump win re-election by amplifying claims about Joe Biden's dealings in Ukraine. Republicans under Joe Biden heavily targeted the unit, calling it politically biased and claiming it was used to cover up information about the laptop. The task force was shut down after Trump took office for a second time in January 2025.

The defence response

Lawyers for Floris said she had served the nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years, and they accused the Justice Department of building its case on hearsay. Her lawyers said the government was filing the charges now, years later, on the eve of an election, and described them as nonsense. They also argued that the government's reasoning was an effort to push a false narrative for political points. Lawyers for the officials argued that the charges were meant to revive the scandal before the 3 November midterm vote, in which Republicans face an uphill battle against Democrats to keep control of Congress. The case was filed 10 days before those midterm elections, and it comes amid a series of politically charged investigative actions the Justice Department has taken during the campaign. Kash Patel, who criticized the bureau before becoming its director, is also reviewing high-profile episodes from the FBI's recent past that have animated Trump's conservative base.

Background to the laptop

The existence of the laptop became known in October 2020, just weeks before Biden and Trump faced off in a presidential election. It had been dropped off at a Wilmington, Delaware repair shop and apparently abandoned by Hunter Biden, which prompted suspicion about its origins. The New York Post published its contents, based on a hard drive obtained from Trump ally Rudy Giuliani. Several former intelligence officials warned that the laptop had the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign.

What comes next

Under the process described in the articles, complaints are approved by a federal magistrate judge but are not presented to a grand jury for a vote. The two former officials have been charged, and the case is at an early stage in federal court in Washington. The midterm elections on 3 November will take place in the days after the first court appearances.