Judge reviews charges against two ex-FBI officials over Hunter Biden, then sees when they were charged: ‘This is weaponization’

On Monday, a federal magistrate judge in Washington, D.C. dismissed criminal charges against former FBI officials Bradley Benavides and Nikki Floris, according to The Guardian. They were accused of lying to Congress in 2023 during a House Judiciary Committee hearing about their knowledge of the FBI’s investigations involving Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden. Prosecutors had filed the charges about two weeks earlier.

While delivering the verdict, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui accused prosecutors of deliberately targeting Benavides and Floris. “I am deeply troubled by what has happened here. What transpired here cannot be described as anything other than weaponization.” He also noted when the case was filed, saying, “I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend I cannot read a calendar,” seemingly hinting at its proximity to the midterms.

Faruqui said prosecutors made “critical mistakes” trying to fast-track the case. Some statements by Benavides and Floris were not false, he ruled, while others may have reflected honest memory lapses. According to WXII, Faruqui also noted the investigation began on FBI Director Kash Patel’s orders the day after President Trump’s mid-July primetime address, in which Trump again claimed the 2020 elections were manipulated and urged the FBI to investigate.

The Justice Department isn’t satisfied with the verdict

WXXI News reported that after Faruqui’s verdict, a Justice Department spokesperson challenged it. They mentioned that 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.”

They seemingly hinted at pursuing the case further, noting, “We are evaluating all options but cannot comment further on an ongoing criminal investigation.” They continued, “The Department’s actions will continue to be guided by the facts, the evidence, and the law, not politics.”

Where everything started

An NBC News analysis published in 2022 estimated that Hunter Biden and his company earned about $11 million between 2013 and 2018 based on information retrieved from his laptop. The income came from his work as an attorney and board member for a Ukrainian firm accused of bribery, as well as from his dealings with a Chinese businessman who was later accused of fraud. 

The analysis drew on a copy of Biden’s hard drive and iCloud account, along with documents Republicans released from two Senate committees. That being said, according to CBS News, Biden was never formally charged in connection with his foreign business dealings and, as a result, was never found guilty.

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