Judge drops fraud case against ex-FBI officials two weeks before midterms

U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui dismissed the federal criminal case against two former FBI officials on Monday. The decision ends the Justice Department's prosecution of Bradley Benavides and Nikki Floris, who were charged with lying to Congress regarding the bureau's probes of Hunter Biden.

Faruqui delivered the ruling from the bench in Washington, D.C., describing the government's handling of the matter as rushed and error-prone. He stated that the events leading to the charges could only be described as weaponization. The judge told a packed courtroom that he was deeply troubled by the proceedings.

The investigation into the two officials began immediately after President Trump gave a national address in mid-July 2024. In that speech, Trump repeated his claims about fraud in the 2020 election and called for an FBI inquiry. The case was opened on the orders of FBI Director Kash Patel the day after that address.

Benavides and Floris made the statements at issue to Congress in 2023. Prosecutors waited three years to act on those remarks. They filed the charges roughly two weeks before the midterm elections scheduled for Tuesday. A Department of Justice policy advises against timing actions to influence an election, but the judge noted the timing here was hard to ignore.

Faruqui pointed out that prosecutors used a criminal complaint rather than seeking a grand jury indictment. Complaints are typically reserved for urgent situations involving imminent danger, statute of limitations deadlines, or flight risks. None of those conditions applied to this case. The judge said the only looming event was the midterms.

He added that prosecutors seemed reluctant to take the case to a grand jury. Several grand juries in the nation's capital have recently declined to return indictments in high-profile political cases. Faruqui noted that while the dismissal clears the way, prosecutors still have options to pursue the matter through other legal channels.

A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement that the agency disagrees with the magistrate's decision. The spokesperson argued that high-ranking officials should not be immune from accountability for false statements. The department said it is evaluating all options and that its actions are guided by facts and law, not politics.

Outside the courtroom, former FBI colleagues gathered to support the two officials. Floris, with tears in her eyes, hugged several former colleagues and Benavides. Margaret Donovan, an attorney for Floris, said the case should never have been brought. She described the complaint as a slap-dash effort driven by conspiracy fever, noting that the truth prevailed in the courtroom.