Two ex-FBI officials face lying charges

Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides are charged with lying to the House Judiciary Committee about their role in the FBI's Hunter Biden investigations. The case was directed by FBI Director Kash Patel.

Defense lawyers challenge the evidence

In a two-day hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., lawyers for Floris and Benavides grilled FBI agent Bryan Witt about the investigation's origins and what evidence supports the lying charges.

Judge to review probable cause

U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said he wants to review the charging document line by line through each alleged false statement to see if probable cause exists that a crime was committed.

Key witnesses were never interviewed

On the stand, Witt acknowledged that FBI agents did not interview Floris herself or any congressional staff with direct knowledge about their testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

Questions lacked specificity

Defense lawyers noted that when Floris was asked about the Hunter Biden investigation, the questioner did not specify which investigation, even though Witt acknowledged there were multiple different criminal and counterintelligence investigations.

“For her to give a false statement, you need to have an understanding of what the question is that she was responding to.”

Procedural irregularities in the case

Prosecutors charged the pair in a criminal complaint rather than securing a grand jury indictment.

Patel directed the investigation

Witt acknowledged that Patel told his supervisor in the Kansas City field office to open the investigation just one day after President Trump gave a televised speech directing the Justice Department to look at an…

Investigation shifted from original focus

Witt testified he was initially directed to investigate whether the former FBI officials suppressed evidence about China.

Judge to rule on probable cause Thursday

The magistrate judge said the review process is expected to take place on Thursday. Prosecutors argued the investigation's origins were not relevant to a probable cause finding and could be raised at a later time.