US charges two former FBI officials with giving false testimony about the Hunter Biden investigation

Two former senior FBI officials, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, are facing criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice on suspicion of misleading Congress about their roles in the investigations involving Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. President Joe Biden.

Court documents made public on October 23, 2026, link the charges to testimony they gave in 2023 before the House Judiciary Committee. After turning themselves in to authorities, Floris and Benavides appeared in federal court in Washington.

At the center of the case are their statements that the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) had played no role in the investigations involving Hunter Biden, according to the Department of Justice.

Prosecutors argue that these statements conflict with documents, communications from the period and testimony from other people. The investigations concern the FBI’s activities in the period leading up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Floris led the FITF as an FBI deputy director from mid-2019 to mid-2022. She is suspected of telling Congress that she had not been involved in discussions about Hunter Biden while leading the task force.

Benavides, who had previously led a division within the group, testified that he had learned about Hunter Biden’s laptop only in 2023, after reading a Wikipedia article.

Jeanine Ferris Pirro, head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, said that anyone who lies to Congress while serving as an official should be held accountable, regardless of the position they held in government institutions.

The case is unfolding amid political tensions in the United States, just days before the midterm elections scheduled for November 3, 2026.