Flores lawyers deny charges and cite election timing
Two unnamed people briefed on the investigation told CNN that former FBI agents Nikki Flores and Bradley Benavides attempted to downplay allegations of corruption by the Biden family. Flores’ lawyers said she was being falsely accused and that the government filed the charges on the eve of an election to push a false narrative for political purposes. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro separately accused both agents of lying to Congress about their involvement in the Foreign Influence Task Force, which investigated the Biden family during the 2020 election cycle.
Flores’ attorneys said she is being falsely accused. “It’s no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of the election,” the lawyers said in a statement to CBS News. “The government’s reasons for charging Nikki are as transparent as they are unjust: to push a false narrative for a shot at political politics.”
The charges against the agents turn on what they told Congress about the laptop inquiry. Pirro said one of the agents claimed to have learned about an investigation into former President Joe Biden through Wikipedia, but evidence showed “their involvement in helping shape the public narrative about Hunter Biden’s laptop right before the election.”
In a statement on X, Pirro said, “Lying to Congress by anyone strikes at the heart of our democratic system, but when senior FBI agents lie to Congress believing they are above the law, it’s time to bring the hammer of justice down on them.” She added, “When senior officials entrusted with safeguarding our nation’s security choose deception over duty, they undermine the very institutions they swore to uphold.”
Pirro announced that former FBI officials Flores, 46, and Benavides, 56, surrendered on arrest warrants Friday. Each former agent faces one count of making a false statement. Both made an appearance in federal court in Washington, D.C. on Friday, and a hearing was scheduled for Tuesday.
Hunter Biden’s laptop came under investigation in 2020 after The New York Post published emails from the device. The owner of a Delaware computer shop said Hunter Biden had left the computer there, identifying himself by name.
Critics argued the laptop had the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign, but the FBI used it as evidence in a case against Hunter Biden alleging he purchased a gun while addicted to drugs, which is illegal.
Hunter Biden had pleaded guilty to three felony charges in connection with his purchase of a revolver in 2018 amid substance abuse issues and to nine tax evasion charges.
President Biden pardoned his son shortly before leaving office in 2024, despite promising earlier not to interfere in the actions of the Justice Department. He said he did so because Hunter Biden was “selectively and unfairly prosecuted” for political reasons.