FBI Agents Charged for Lying to Congress in Scandal Over 2020 Election

Heads are starting to roll over the 2020 election. And not a moment too soon.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced on Friday that two former senior FBI officials have been arrested and charged with lying to Congress.

Their charges stem from their involvement in investigations surrounding Hunter Biden and his infamous laptop during the 2020 presidential election.

And one of the officials reportedly made a stunning admission about running a "shadow government" inside the FBI during President Donald Trump's first term.

The Department of Justice announced that Nikki Cole Floris, 46, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Bradley Benavides, 56, of Aiken, South Carolina, surrendered on arrest warrants after being charged with making false statements to Congress.

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

Both previously held senior positions on the FBI's now-disbanded Foreign Influence Task Force, which was responsible for investigating foreign interference in American elections.

Floris led the task force as a deputy assistant director from 2019 to 2022, while Benavides served as its section chief during the lead-up to the 2020 election.

According to prosecutors, the two officials gave false accounts of the task force's involvement in the Hunter Biden investigations during interviews with the House Judiciary Committee in 2023.

Floris allegedly testified that she had not participated in discussions concerning Hunter Biden while serving on the task force.

But prosecutors say documentary evidence shows she routinely discussed the investigations for more than a year.

Benavides, meanwhile, allegedly told lawmakers that he first learned the FBI possessed Hunter Biden's laptop after reading about it on Wikipedia in 2023.

The Justice Department says contemporaneous communications show he had discussed the laptop with FBI officials before the 2020 election. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro had a warning for FBI agents.

"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," Pirro declared.

"When senior officials entrusted with safeguarding our nation's security choose deception over duty, they undermine the very institutions they swore to uphold."

FBI Director Kash Patel highlighted another disturbing allegation.

"One of these individuals is on record privately claiming to be 'running a shadow government' during the 2020 election," Patel said.

That remark has an interesting history. Back in July, RedState's Rusty Weiss reported on a revealing interview between investigative journalist Catherine Herridge and former senior CIA operations officer James Erdman III.

During the interview, Herridge referenced an email reportedly written by Floris while she was leading the FBI's foreign influence efforts.

"I am basically running a shadow government inside the FBI right now," Floris allegedly wrote.

I thought the “deep state” was a figment of our imaginations. How odd.

Erdman described an attitude among intelligence officials who believed they were responsible for restraining elected political leaders.

"There's certainly people who believe that they are the adults in the room, and they're here to make sure that the political leaders that are in charge, we can't let them do anything too crazy," Erdman told Herridge.

"We're here to make sure we temper their worst tendencies."

He added that some intelligence officials effectively acted as a shadow government, whether they recognized it or not.

Erdman also alleged that career intelligence officials resisted Trump's election-integrity investigations and sought to influence the contents of the President's Daily Brief, particularly concerning China.

Those earlier allegations are separate from the false-statement charges announced Friday. Nevertheless, the newly announced charges put one of the officials at the center of those earlier allegations under fresh scrutiny.

Patel said the bureau has already dismantled its controversial CR-15 squad and pledged additional accountability.

"As we've said repeatedly: weaponization will never be tolerated at this FBI," he declared.

The latest development also follows another RedState report on declassified communications concerning the government's decision to revoke a Ukrainian witness's visa shortly before the 2020 election.

That case involved Andrii Telizhenko, who was expected to provide information to congressional investigators examining Biden family business dealings in Ukraine.

The two developments raise further questions about how federal authorities handled politically sensitive information involving the Biden family during a presidential election.

Floris and Benavides each face a charge under 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2), which prohibits materially false statements in matters within congressional jurisdiction.

As the DOJ states as a disclaimer, both are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. But the investigation is now examining whether FBI agents misled Americans over matters impacting the 2020 election.

The "shadow government" remark also gives accusations of 2020 election interference another dimension. Let the consequences for undermining the will of the people begin.

Editor’s Note: Republicans are fighting for election integrity by requiring proper identification to vote. It's common sense, yet Democrats are spreading lies about the impact of such a measure. 

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