Judge dismisses charges against two former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress over the Hunter Biden investigation

A federal judge in the United States has dismissed a criminal case against two former senior FBI officials who were accused of lying to Congress about the investigation into former President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.

On Monday, US Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui ruled that prosecutors, acting under the direction of the Department of Justice, lacked sufficient evidence to move the case forward. He expressed concern that the investigation was rushed, overtly political and dogged by 'critical mistakes', and said it 'cannot be described as anything other than weaponization'.

Referring to the case's proximity to the midterm elections, Judge Faruqui said in court: 'I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend I cannot read a calendar. I will not lobotomize myself that way.'

The case alleged that Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides misled Congress in 2023 by lying about their knowledge of and involvement in an investigation into a laptop that the Justice Department said Hunter Biden had dropped off at a Delaware tech shop in 2019.

An FBI agent who worked on the case testified that the investigation into Floris and Benavides began last July under the direction of FBI Director Kash Patel. The Associated Press reported that the case echoed complaints by President Donald Trump and his allies that potentially damaging information about the Biden family was suppressed during the 2020 election, which Trump lost.

The Justice Department may still have the chance to pursue a grand jury indictment of the two former officials. Nonetheless, Judge Faruqui's early ruling and his concerns about the case have hampered the Justice Department's position.

At a preliminary hearing last week, the judge also pointed out that the Justice Department had not followed legal procedure when it filed an amended complaint with an additional charge without first clearing the charge with the court — something he said he had never seen before.

With the case dismissed, the charges against former FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides have come to an end for now. Whether the Justice Department will pursue the grand jury route was not yet known.