Judge throws out new charges against ex-FBI officials in Hunter Biden probe

Updated on: October 27, 2026 / 1:12 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A federal magistrate judge on Tuesday rejected the Justice Department's 11th hour attempt to file new criminal charges against two former FBI counterintelligence officials, saying prosecutors could not take that step without judicial review first.

In a tense exchange, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia expressed shock and anger at the Justice Department for filing an unsworn and unsigned superseding complaint against the two FBI officials after midnight on Tuesday on the public court docket, noting it was never reviewed by him to establish where there was probable cause a crime was committed.

Filing an unsworn complaint on the public docket and bypassing judicial review, he said, is unheard of and raises questions about the DOJ's motivations. He said he would be ordering that the new version of the charging documents be "struck from the record," though the Justice Department could try to add new charges the proper way.

"We have never had complaints filed that are unsigned," Faruqui said. "It is inappropriate. It harms the defendants."

"I am unaware of that ever happening before in this court,"…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/