2026-10-23T14:08:01.934Z / 美国有线电视新闻网
据知情人士和法庭文件显示，两名前联邦调查局官员面临指控，他们被指向国会作伪证，相关调查聚焦于联邦调查局调查人员是否试图淡化拜登家族腐败的指控以及亨特·拜登笔记本电脑的相关证据。
均为前华盛顿顶尖情报专家的 Nikki Floris 和 Bradley Benavides 被指控犯有一项作虚假陈述罪。治安法官 Zia Faruqui 周五在法庭上表示，这些指控与“亨特·拜登的笔记本电脑以及围绕该事件的相关指控”有关。
这些指控涉及 Floris 和 Benavides 在 2023 年向众议院司法委员会所作的陈述，当时共和党人质疑联邦调查局选举干预特别工作组在亨特·拜登案调查中的参与度。
周五在华盛顿联邦地区法院公开的一份起诉书指控两人“隐瞒[该特别工作组]参与亨特·拜登案调查及相关沟通的情况，并阻挠国会调查”。
华盛顿特区联邦检察官 Jeanine Pirro 周五在社交媒体帖子中宣布了这些指控，称所谓的虚假陈述“涉及他们在 2020 年选举期间外国影响特别工作组中的角色”。
Pirro 还表示：“当联邦调查局的高级特工向国会撒谎，自以为凌驾于法律之上时，是时候对他们动用司法的重拳了。”
根据 Pirro 和刑事诉状的内容，Benavides 曾告诉国会，他是从维基百科上了解到有关亨特·拜登笔记本电脑的调查的。
共和党人多次批评联邦调查局早期处理亨特·拜登案的方式，这源于关于拜登家族腐败的长期说法，以及右翼关于联邦政府所谓“深层政府”的叙事。
两名被告于周五上午在华盛顿联邦地区法院首次出庭。他们在等待审判期间不会被拘留。
这名前联邦调查局官员的听证会定于周二上午举行。
Faruqui 指出，这两名特工“背景优异”，并告知检察官“所谓的相关事件发生在多年前”，同时表示鉴于检察官“对两名屡获殊荣的特工提起这一严肃指控”，他们应当做好推进案件的准备。
法官还指出，这一指控“实属罕见”，并特别说明指控由检察官通过诉状提起，而非大陪审团批准。
周五，Faruqui 在法庭上还表示，这些指控“直截了当”，这两名此前品行端正的特工如今被联邦法院起诉，这将“伴随他们一生”。
联邦调查局局长 Kash Patel 周五表示，这些指控是对已解散的联邦调查局外国影响特别工作组调查的结果。
他还称 Floris“私下公开声称”在运营影子政府。
“Floris 于 2019 年年中至 2022 年年中担任外国影响特别工作组副助理局长，领导该特别工作组。Benavides 则于 2019 年年中至 2020 年选举期间担任该特别工作组部门主管，”他在 X 平台上表示。“两人均作证称外国影响特别工作组未参与亨特·拜登案调查。但书面证据、同期沟通记录及证人证词与他们的证词相矛盾。”
“联邦调查局高级特工向国会撒谎，损害了我们的体制核心。没有人能凌驾于法律之上，”他继续说道。
Patel 提到，在他领导联邦调查局期间，名为 CR-15 的调查小组被解散。Patel 因此次解雇多次遭到抨击，原因是联邦调查局官员因参与与前总统特朗普相关的过往调查而失去工作。
Floris 的辩护律师在她出庭后发表的声明中表示，她“依据政客的一面之词受到虚假指控”，并且“是一名爱国者”。
律师在声明中表示：“政府时隔多年在选举前夕对 Nikki 提起这些毫无意义的指控，这绝非巧合。”
“政府指控 Nikki 的理由与其行为一样透明：为在政治博弈中占据上风而推行虚假叙事。”
这些指控是在选举日不到两周前提出的。拜登的儿子亨特最终被判定犯有联邦税务和枪支相关罪行，随后他的父亲在 2024 年感恩节前后对其予以赦免。
一名正在竞选密歇根州州长的保守派政客多次指责 Floris 在 2020 年针对特朗普运营“影子政府”。
特朗普和共和党人指控拜登家族存在腐败，尤其是在国税局 whistleblowers 称联邦调查局在拜登父亲执政期间放慢对亨特·拜登调查之后。
一名特别检察官彻底调查了共和党人对亨特·拜登的指控，除枪支和税务指控外，未建议追加其他指控。该特别检察官 David Weiss 还起诉了一名政府线人，此人提供了有关拜登家族行贿的虚假信息。
本报道根据法庭信息补充了相关报道。
美国有线电视新闻网的 Caitlin McCormack 为本报道提供了协助。
First on CNN: DOJ brings criminal charges against FBI officials it believes hampered Biden corruption investigation
2026-10-23T14:08:01.934Z / CNN
Two former FBI officials are facing charges for allegedly lying to Congress as part of a probe that focused on whether FBI investigators sought to minimize allegations of Biden family corruption and evidence of Hunter Biden’s laptop, according to people briefed on the matter and court documents.
Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, both former top Washington-based intelligence specialists, are charged with one count of making a false statement. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said in court on Friday the charges are related to “Hunter Biden’s laptop and allegations around that.”
The charges relate to statements Floris and Benavides made to the House Judiciary Committee in 2023 as Republicans questioned an FBI election-interference task force’s involvement in the Hunter Biden investigations.
A charging document unsealed in DC’s federal district court Friday accuses the pair of “concealing [the task force’s] engagement with and communications about the Hunter Biden investigations and impeding the congressional investigation.”
DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced the charges in a social media post on Friday, saying the alleged false statements were “about their roles on the Foreign Influence Task Force during the 2020 election.”
Pirro added that “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.”
According to Pirro and the criminal complaint, Benavides then told Congress he learned about the investigation into Hunter Biden’s laptop from Wikipedia.
Republicans have repeatedly criticized the FBI for its early handling of investigations into Hunter Biden as part of long-running theories about corruption in the Biden family and so-called “deep state” right-wing narratives about the federal government.
The two defendants made their first appearance in the federal district court in DC Friday morning. They will not be detained as they await trial.
A hearing for the former FBI officials is scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Faruqui noted that both agents have “sparkling backgrounds” and told prosecutors the “alleged context happened years ago” and noted the prosecutors should be ready to move forward with the case given that they “brought this serious charge against two decorated agents.”
The judge also noted the charge was “rare” and made note that it was charged by complaint from prosecutors, and not approved by a grand jury.
Faruqui also said on the bench Friday the charges were “straight forward” and that the agents, with otherwise sterling records, are now charged in federal court, which will “follow them for the rest of their lives”
FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday that the charges are the result of an investigation into the since-dissolved FBI Foreign Influence Task Force.
He also says Floris is “on record privately claiming” to be running a shadow government.
“Floris led the FITF as a Deputy Assistant Director from mid-2019 through mid-2022. Benavides was the FITF Section Chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election,” he said on X. “Both testified that the FITF was not involved in the Hunter Biden investigations. Documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications, and witness accounts contradict their testimony.”
“Lying to Congress by senior FBI officials strikes at the heart of our system. No one is above the law,” he continued.
Patel noted how during his time leading the FBI, the investigative squad known as CR-15 was dismantled. Patel has repeatedly been attacked for these firings because FBI officials lost their jobs for working on assignments related to past probes into Trump.
Defense attorneys for Floris, in a statement following her appearance in court, said she is being falsely accused “on the say-so of politicians” and “is a patriot.”
“It’s no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of an election,” the lawyers said in their statement.
“The government’s reasons for charging Nikki are as transparent as they are unjust: to push a false narrative for a shot at political politics.”
The charges come less than two weeks before Election Day. Biden’s son Hunter was ultimately convicted of federal tax and gun charges then pardoned by his father around Thanksgiving in 2024.
And one conservative politician who is running for Michigan governor has repeatedly accused Floris of running a “shadow government” against Trump in 2020.
Trump and Republicans have accused the Bidens of corruption, especially after IRS whistleblowers claimed the FBI had slow-walked an investigation into Hunter Biden while his father was in office.
A special counsel thoroughly investigated the Republicans’ allegations against Hunter Biden and didn’t recommend any additional charges past the gun and tax charges. A separate government informant was charged by that special counsel, David Weiss, for providing false information alleging bribery in the Biden family.
This story was updated with additional reporting from court.
CNN’s Caitlin McCormack contributed to this report.