Judge dismisses case against ex-FBI agents accused on lying to Congress in Hunter Biden investigation

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a criminal complaint against a pair of former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress during its investigation of Hunter Biden.

Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui found the government had failed to show probable cause that Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides had lied to lawmakers about what they knew about the investigation into Hunter Biden’s laptop. Data from the abandoned computer later led to successful criminal charges against former President Joe Biden’s son.

The case was brought by criminal complaint rather than being presented to a federal grand jury in Washington, where jurors have been skeptical of politically-tinged cases against purported Trump enemies, most recently rejecting the attempted indictment of Cassidy Hutchinson.

The complaint alleged that the duo lied about their roles on the Foreign Influence Task Force and “about their roles in the FBI’s Hunter Biden investigations” while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in 2023.

The dismissal came after an FBI agent testified at a preliminary hearing last week that he was concerned the investigation, which had been directed by FBI Director Kash Patel, would be viewed as “political.” He also acknowledged a prosecutor on the case had acknowledged the criminal complaint was…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business