A federal magistrate judge in Washington on Tuesday threw out new charges the Justice Department filed overnight against two former FBI officials, because the superseding complaint was neither signed nor sworn by anyone.
Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui dismissed the filing at what was supposed to be a preliminary hearing for Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, who are accused of lying to Congress in 2023 about the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force and the bureau's Hunter Biden investigations, CBS News reported. Both deny wrongdoing and are presumed innocent.
What happened in court
The government posted the superseding complaint to the public docket after midnight on Tuesday, without review by a judge. It added a count of obstructing a congressional proceeding to the original false statements charge.
Faruqui was not impressed. "We have never had complaints filed that are unsigned," he said, according to CBS. He called the filing "inappropriate" and said "It harms the defendants." He told prosecutors, "Everything you're doing is making me more and more concerned."
John Borchert, a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, asked whether the FBI agent behind the complaint could swear to it after the fact. Defense lawyers objected, and Faruqui compared that step to a notary's role. He ordered the new version struck and said the department could try to add charges through the proper process. "We are not afraid of a probable cause finding," Borchert said.
The court will still hold a preliminary hearing on the original complaint, to decide whether there is probable cause for the false statements count.
The original charges
The case was filed by criminal complaint on Friday, October 23. Each defendant faces one count of making false statements, and both surrendered that morning, according to a social media post by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro that NBC News reported. Pirro alleged they lied about their roles on the task force and "about their roles in the FBI's Hunter Biden investigations."
Floris was the task force's deputy assistant director from mid-2019 through mid-2022, and Benavides was its section chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election, according to CBS. The testimony at issue was given to a congressional committee on July 19, 2023 (Floris) and September 28, 2023 (Benavides). The complaint alleges their statements were meant to minimize or conceal the task force's involvement with the Hunter Biden investigations, including a counterintelligence operation called "Round River."
The defense says it is political
Floris's lawyers called her "a patriot" who "served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years," and said the department "has accused her falsely of a crime on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts," NBC reported. Benavides's attorney, Ronald S. Safer, called the complaint "transparently political." In court Tuesday, Floris attorney Mary Dohrmann said "the evidence is mounting that this prosecution is about some political football, and not the law or the facts in this case."
President Trump, speaking in Florida on Friday, said "I heard they were bad people," and called them "Dirty cops, like Comey." The administration filed new charges against former FBI Director James Comey on Monday, a case we covered in James Comey Charged a Third Time.
Our analysis: why the signature matters
A criminal complaint is the thinnest charging document in federal court. Unlike an indictment, it does not go to a grand jury. What makes it valid is a sworn statement, usually an agent's affidavit, reviewed by a judge, that lays out probable cause. Take away the oath and the signature, and nothing is left that a court has tested.
Charges: One false statements count each. Adds obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
Sworn by an agent: Yes. No.
Signed: Yes. No.
Reviewed by a judge: Yes. No.
Status: Preliminary hearing pending. Struck by Judge Faruqui.
The bigger hurdle comes next. To keep a felony case alive past the complaint stage, prosecutors generally need a grand jury indictment. NBC noted that D.C. grand jurors have been skeptical of several cases brought in Trump's second term, including declining to indict six Democratic lawmakers. How grand juries make that call is explained in What a Grand Jury Does, and Why It Meets Behind Closed Doors.
The case was filed 10 days before the November 3 elections. No date for the preliminary hearing on the original complaint was given in Tuesday's reporting.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
