Task force raised Russian disinformation concerns about Hunter Biden’s laptop
An FBI agent testified last week that the probe into former FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides began with President Donald Trump’s July primetime address on election security, according to The Guardian. Trump announced during the address that the FBI would investigate whether US intelligence agencies had suppressed information about Chinese meddling in the 2020 election.
The next day, FBI Director Kash Patel tasked the bureau’s Kansas City field office with scrutinizing Floris. Floris had cast doubt on an FBI intelligence report claiming that China sought to interfere in the 2020 election to boost Joe Biden over Trump.
Floris and Benavides served on an FBI task force that examined potential foreign influence in American politics. The task force was initially formed after the 2016 presidential election, when officials raised concerns that Russia had attempted to interfere. In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, the task force raised concerns that Russia could have engaged in another disinformation operation to assist Donald Trump’s campaign by bolstering claims about Hunter Biden’s laptop.
The Guardian’s report included a photograph of Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, and his wife Melissa leaving the federal court building in Los Angeles, California on 5 September 2024. The image was credited to David Swanson/ReutersView.
Federal prosecutors in Washington DC charged Floris and Benavides last month with making false statements to members of Congress in 2023 while testifying to the House Judiciary Committee. The two former officials were testifying about the FBI’s role in investigating the contents of a laptop that belonged to Hunter Biden.
Monday, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui dismissed the criminal charges against the two former officials. He said prosecutors had failed to show probable cause that Floris and Benavides knowingly made false statements. Faruqui said some of the former officials’ statements were not actually false and that others could be attributed to “honest mistakes of memory.”
Faruqui criticized federal prosecutors for rushing the prosecution and making “critical mistakes.” He also suggested that prosecutors purposefully brought the charges at a sensitive time, just 10 days before the midterm elections. “What has transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization,” Faruqui said during the court hearing. “I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend I cannot read a calendar.”
The Guardian noted that Trump has publicly criticized individuals he believes undermined his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential results. The Guardian said that since Trump returned to office in January 2025, the Justice Department had used indictments and complaints against people whom Trump regarded as political adversaries, though some high-profile attempts had failed to bear fruit.
According to The Guardian, prosecutors could try to charge Floris and Benavides again by asking a grand jury to review the evidence and approve charges, even though the Justice Department’s current complaint has been dismissed.