A federal judge on Monday dismissed criminal charges against two former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress during the investigation into Hunter Biden.
Magistrate Judge Zia Farooqui found that the government failed to prove that Nikki Flores and Bradley Benavidez lied to lawmakers about what they knew about the Hunter Biden laptop investigation. Data from the discarded computers later led to successful criminal charges against former President Joe Biden’s son.
The case was brought through a criminal complaint rather than before a federal grand jury in Washington, which has been skeptical of politically charged cases against so-called Trump enemies and recently rejected an attempt to indict Cassidy Hutchinson.
The complaint alleges that the two men lied about their roles on the Foreign Influence Task Force and “the FBI’s Hunter Biden investigation” when testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in 2023.
An FBI agent testified at a preliminary hearing last week that he feared an investigation directed by FBI Director Kash Patel would be seen as “political” and was fired. He also acknowledged that the prosecutor on the case admitted in a phone call last week that the criminal complaint was flawed.
The prosecutor, Carlton Davis, is a top aide to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro and a former Republican Hill staffer who was also involved in the failed prosecution of six sitting members of Congress over unfavorable social media videos of President Donald Trump.
Pirro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge’s ruling.
The case could still theoretically move forward if the Justice Department could convince federal grand jurors of probable cause, but that outcome seems unlikely given that Farooqui found their complaint did not meet that legal standard.
Faruqui previously criticized the government for filing a new unsigned indictment in court seeking to bring additional charges against the former agent without a judge’s permission.
Flores and Benavidez have been the target of criticism from close allies of the president. Both men worked on security issues surrounding the 2020 presidential election, which Trump falsely claimed was stolen.
Flores’ attorneys said in a statement that while “Nicki should not have to endure this disgraceful public attack, we hope the courts continue to be a refuge for all citizens who have been unlawfully attacked by the Trump administration.”
They said the accusations against their clients were “nothing more than a politically motivated smear campaign designed to score political points ahead of the midterm elections.”
Benavidez’s lawyer praised the judge’s decision and called the charges against his client “political theater.”
“Bradley Benavidez is a patriot,” the statement said. “He is a public servant. And he is innocent. We are grateful that Judge Farooqui carefully weighed the grossly inadequate evidence under the law and found that the government was unable to meet the extremely low burden of probable cause.”
“We can only hope that the government does not now go before a grand jury and try to charge this case behind closed doors, where they can shape the narrative and we cannot present our side of the case,” it said.