DOJ charges two former top FBI officials who were frequent targets of Trump allies

Key Points:

• Two former FBI officials, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, have been charged with allegedly lying to Congress about their roles in the FBI's investigation into Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden.
• Floris, the former deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, and Benavides face one count of a rarely charged criminal offense related to their testimony, though they have not yet been indicted by a federal grand jury.
• Floris’s attorneys claim the charges are politically motivated, accusing the DOJ of pushing a false narrative ahead of the election, while Benavides’s legal representation has not yet been announced.
• Floris was the FBI’s security lead for the 2020 presidential election and has faced Republican criticism over declassified emails regarding intelligence on China’s election influence, which some Republicans allege was suppressed to protect FBI leadership.
• The case arises amid a politically charged environment following Hunter Biden’s conviction on gun and tax crimes and subsequent pardon by President Biden, with grand juries in D.C. showing skepticism toward politically sensitive cases.