Judge drops case against ex-FBI aides

U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui dismissed the Justice Department's criminal case against two former FBI officials on Monday. The decision ended the prosecution of Bradley Benavides and Nikki Floris, who had been charged with lying to Congress in 2023. The charges related to their knowledge of the bureau's investigations into former President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.

Faruqui issued the ruling from the bench in federal court in Washington, D.C., after a preliminary hearing that lasted several days the previous week. He described the government's investigation as rushed and filled with errors. "I am deeply troubled by what has happened here," Faruqui said. "What transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization."

The judge pointed to the timeline of the case as a primary reason for the dismissal. The investigation began on the orders of FBI Director Kash Patel the day after President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address in mid-July. In that speech, Trump repeated his claims of fraud in the 2020 election and urged the FBI to investigate. The alleged false statements by Benavides and Floris were made in 2023, yet prosecutors waited three years to act.

Charges were filed roughly two weeks before the midterm elections scheduled for Tuesday. Faruqui noted that Department of Justice policy prohibits timing actions to influence an election. He observed that the only looming event during the filing period was the election itself. "I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend I cannot read a calendar," Faruqui said. "I will not lobotomize myself that way."

The judge also criticized the procedural method used to file the charges. Prosecutors used a criminal complaint, a document typically reserved for urgent situations involving imminent danger or a statute of limitations deadline. None of those factors existed here. Faruqui suggested prosecutors may have avoided a grand jury due to the department's recent difficulty securing indictments in high-profile cases in Washington, D.C.

A Justice Department spokesperson responded in a statement, saying the department disagrees with the magistrate's decision. The spokesperson argued that the ruling suggests high-ranking officials are immune from accountability for making materially false statements. "We are evaluating all options but cannot comment further on an ongoing criminal investigation," the spokesperson said. The department stated its actions would continue to be guided by the facts, evidence, and law, not politics.

Faruqui spent about an hour explaining his decision to a packed courtroom. Many former senior FBI officials attended. Although he dismissed the case, he noted that prosecutors could still appeal to the district's chief judge or seek an indictment from a grand jury.

Outside the courtroom, former FBI colleagues gathered to greet Benavides and Floris. Floris, with tears in her eyes, hugged several former colleagues before embracing Benavides. Margaret Donovan, one of Floris' attorneys, said the case should never have been brought. "As the judge just laid out, this was a slap-dash complaint, spaghetti-at-the wall, Hunter Biden conspiracy fever dream," Donovan said. "But facts still matter in a courtroom. The truth still matters in a courtroom. And that's what we say prevailed today."