Judge dismisses criminal case against two ex-FBI officials

A federal magistrate judge in Washington, D.C., dismissed criminal charges against two former FBI officials on Monday. The decision ended a prosecution that alleged the agents misled Congress about the bureau's handling of Hunter Biden's investigations.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui struck the criminal complaint from the record during a bench ruling. He removed the revised charges that prosecutors had attempted to add without prior judicial approval. As a result, the government must proceed based only on its original allegations. Those claims held that the former officials made false statements during 2023 congressional interviews.

The defendants are Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides. Prosecutors argued that the two lied about what they knew regarding Hunter Biden's laptop and the FBI's pre-2020 election activities. The government claimed internal communications and witness accounts contradicted the agents' testimony.

Faruqui delivered a sharp critique of the case's management. He described the prosecution as a "rush job" directed by President Donald Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel. "What has transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization," Faruqui stated from the bench. He also questioned why the government bypassed a grand jury indictment in favor of a direct criminal complaint.

The ruling followed a series of hearings where Faruqui scrutinized the prosecution's procedural steps. During a preliminary hearing last week, he objected to an unsigned and unsworn document seeking to add obstruction charges. Defense attorneys noted that this revised complaint also softened the government's original claims about the officials' specific involvement in the Hunter Biden investigations.

Faruqui has previously clashed with federal prosecutors under the current administration. In May, he apologized to Cole Allen, a suspect in an assassination plot at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, for being held in five-point restraints. Faruqui called that treatment "extremely disturbing" for someone with no criminal history. He has also accused the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro of overreaching by filing certain local law enforcement matters in federal court.

The White House and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The dismissal leaves the former officials free of criminal liability in this specific case.