Reality hit hard for one former FBI official as she attended her preliminary hearing after being charged with lying to Congress.
Former FBI Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) Deputy Assistant Director Nikki Floris, 46, and former FITF Section Chief Bradley Benavides, 56, turned themselves in last week on warrants. As BizPac Review reported Saturday, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro accused the two of “[lying] to Congress about their roles in the FBI’s Hunter Biden investigations, with one claiming they only learned about it from Wikipedia — despite evidence showing their involvement in helping shape the public narrative about Hunter Biden’s laptop right before the election.”
Floris reportedly sobbed outside a federal courtroom on Tuesday as the potential consequences of her alleged actions seemed to set in.
“Prosecutors, citing internal FBI messages, emails and testimony from bureau employees, allege that Floris and Benavides frequently discussed Hunter Biden and his laptop in the lead-up to the 2020 election – including by assisting with press inquiries after The Post’s bombshell Oct. 14, 2020 story on Biden’s laptop emails, peddling the false narrative that the laptop was Russian disinformation,” The New York Post reported.
Despite this, Floris testified that she did not have any knowledge of the laptop. Her lawyer attempted to FBI Special Agent Bryan Witt, who was testifying as a government witness, to admit that the entire investigation into her client was a “witch hunt.” Whit admitted that he was “concerned [the investigation] would be viewed as political,” but declined to classify it in such terms.
Pirro chided the pair in an X post Friday:
This morning, two former senior FBI officials, Nikki Floris, 46, and Bradley Benavides, 56, surrendered on arrest warrants after being charged with lying to Congress about their roles on the Foreign Influence Task Force during the 2020 election. Floris and Benavides allegedly lied to Congress about their roles in the FBI’s Hunter Biden investigations, with one claiming they only learned about it from Wikipedia – despite evidence showing their involvement in helping shape the public narrative about Hunter Biden’s laptop right before the election.
Lying to Congress by anyone strikes at the heart of our democratic system, but when senior FBI agents lie to Congress believing they are above the law, it’s time to bring the hammer of justice down on them. When senior officials entrusted with safeguarding our nation’s security choose deception over duty, they undermine the very institutions they swore to uphold.
Today’s action makes clear that no one is above the law, and we will hold accountable all who obstruct the truth.
— US Attorney Pirro (@USAttyPirro) October 23, 2026
“Lying to Congress by anyone strikes at the heart of our democratic system, but when senior FBI agents lie to Congress believing they are above the law, it’s time to bring the hammer of justice down on them. When senior officials entrusted with safeguarding our nation’s security choose deception over duty, they undermine the very institutions they swore to uphold,” she wrote. “Today’s action makes clear that no one is above the law, and we will hold accountable all who obstruct the truth.”
The hearing will continue on Wednesday.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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