Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui speaks before a debate at the Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, D.C. in November 2024.
Craig Hudson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
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Craig Hudson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
A federal magistrate judge on Monday dismissed the Justice Department’s criminal case against two former FBI officials charged in connection with the bureau’s investigations into former President Joe Biden’s son.
Bradley Benavides and Nikki Floris were charged around two weeks ago with lying to Congress in 2023 about their knowledge of the FBI’s investigations into Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. It is one of several politically charged actions by the Justice Department under President Trump in the run-up to the midterm elections on Tuesday.
At a hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui castigated the government’s investigation into Floris and Benavides, describing it as rushed and riddled with errors.
“I am deeply troubled by what has happened here,” Faruqui said in a scathing ruling from the bench. “What transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization.”
The court’s ruling came after a days-long preliminary hearing last week to determine whether probable cause existed to charge Floris and Benavides with lying to Congress. It featured testimony from one of the FBI agents who investigated the case.
In a statement, a Justice Department spokesperson said the department “disagrees with the Magistrate’s decision, which remarkably appears to suggest that high-ranking government officials are immune from accountability for making materially false statements to Congress.”
“We are evaluating all options but cannot comment further on an ongoing criminal investigation,” the spokesperson said. “The Department’s actions will continue to be guided by the facts, the evidence, and the law—not politics.”
Over the course of an hour, Faruqui on Monday laid out the basis for his decision before a packed courtroom that included many former senior FBI officials.
The judge noted that the investigation into Floris and Benavides was opened on FBI Director Kash Patel’s orders the day after President Trump delivered a primetime address on national TV in mid-July. In that speech, Trump repeated his false claims about fraud in the 2020 election and urged the FBI to investigate.
Faruqui noted that the alleged false statements were made to Congress in 2023, yet the Justice Department waited three years to pursue the case. Prosecutors then brought charges some two weeks before the midterm elections, despite a DOJ policy prohibiting timing any action to influence an election.
That was not the only unusual decision by the department. The judge also noted that charges were filed as a criminal complaint, a document usually used when there is some need for urgency such as an imminent danger, a statute of limitations deadline or a risk of flight—none of which existed in this case.
The only event that was looming here, he said, was the midterms.
“I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend I cannot read a calendar,” Faruqui said. “I will not lobotomize myself that way.”
He also said prosecutors appear not to want to take this case before a grand jury, perhaps given the Justice Department’s poor track record recently with grand juries in Washington, D.C.
On several occasions under the Trump administration, grand juries in the nation’s capital have refused to return indictments in high-profile, politically charged cases.
While Faruqui dismissed the case, he said that nothing is stopping prosecutors from going to a grand jury and trying to secure an indictment. Prosecutors could also appeal his decision to the district’s chief judge.
After the hearing, a group of former FBI officials greeted Floris and Benavides outside the courtroom. Floris, tears in her eyes, hugged several of her former colleagues before sharing a hug with Benavides.
“This case should never have been brought. The government had no case,” said Margaret Donovan, one of Floris’ attorneys. “As the judge just laid out, this was a slap-dash complaint, spaghetti-at-the wall, Hunter Biden conspiracy fever dream. But facts still matter in a courtroom. The truth still matters in a courtroom. And that’s what we say prevailed today.”
