A federal judge on Monday dismissed a false statements case against two former senior FBI agents accused of lying to Congress about past investigations of Hunter Biden.
In dismissing the case, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui delivered a scathing rebuke from the bench of current FBI and DOJ leadership, who he accused of seeking to impact the midterm elections.
“What has transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization,” the judge said in tossing the case against former FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides.
The dismissal follows days of testimony in a series of rare public hearings Faruqui convened to determine whether the government’s case against Floris and Benavides met the low bar of probable cause.
Testimony from an FBI agent who led the case revealed it was initiated only after President Donald Trump held a July address in which he alleged there was widespread election fraud and corruption by the FBI under the Biden administration, and that the case was ordered directly by FBI Director Kash Patel.
Prosecutors accused Floris and Benavides of lying to Congress when they were asked about federal investigations of Hunter Biden and the veracity of information allegedly found on his laptop — but the case fell apart under scrutiny, with Judge Faruqui saying “there is simply nothing” that shows either agent intended to make false statements about the probes.
“Without motive, without direct evidence, I have nothing,” Faruqui said.
Faruqui also faulted Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche and D.C. U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro for their public statements maligning both Floris and Benavides despite the lack of evidence, and accused the DOJ of rushing to bring charges in advance of the midterms, in apparent violation of a longstanding department practice that limits taking overt investigative steps in politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election.
“I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend I cannot read a calendar,” the judge said. “I will not lobotomize myself that way.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Faruqui said it was the first time in his history on the bench that he had ever made a finding that the government failed to reach the relatively low burden of establishing probable cause to bring charges — which he said adds to mounting evidence that the Trump administration is unwilling to bring some of its more controversial prosecutions before grand juries.
In what he described as a “slapdash job” by the government in seeking to bring charges against decorated former agents like Floris and Benavides, Faruqui said the flawed attempt to prosecute them and the messaging by top administration officials would likely deter qualified investigators from wanting to join the FBI — and also potentially threatened Congress’ ability to get valuable testimony from future witnesses.
“This case is marketing material to discourage people from joining the FBI,” Faruqui said, before questioning “what person in their right mind” would want to join the bureau after seeing what happened to Floris and Benavides.
It’s not immediately clear whether the government will seek to appeal Faruqui’s ruling or if it will attempt to charge Floris and Benavides through other means, such as filing an amended complaint or seeking to indict them in D.C. or another district.
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