Judge dismisses case against ex-FBI officials

Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui in U.S. District Court in Washington dismissed the Department of Justice's case accusing former FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides of lying to Congress about Hunter Biden investigations.

Judge blasts DOJ for weaponization

Faruqui tore into the DOJ over its slapdash job prosecuting the officials, saying he was deeply troubled by what happened. The situation cannot be described as anything other than weaponization, he said.

“cannot be described as anything other than weaponization”

Judge says DOJ lacked probable cause

Faruqui said the government lacked probable cause and failed to present evidence that Floris and Benavides' statements before the House Judiciary Committee in 2023 were knowingly false.

Judge accuses DOJ of rushing case

Faruqui accused the DOJ of wrongly rushing the case ahead of the midterm election. He even apologized to the government's lawyers, calling it incredibly unfair they were assigned to defend the flawed case.

Defense lawyers praise dismissal

Attorneys for Floris and Benavides praised the judge's decision outside the courthouse. A lawyer for Floris called the prosecution a spaghetti-at-the-wall, Hunter-Biden-conspiracy fever dream with no case.

“spaghetti-at-the-wall, Hunter-Biden-conspiracy fever dream”