司法 · 联邦调查局官员起诉案遭驳回司法部对两名前联邦调查局官员的指控未能通过首轮证据检验文字 2026年11月4日 UTC 00:53观看文字实录0:07A judge dismissed criminal charges against two former FBI officials accused of lying0:12to Congress.0:13The prosecution failed even at the preliminary evidence test, and the judge called0:18its handling weaponization.0:19The Justice Department is keeping its investigation open.0:23Whether prosecutors can overcome the evidence gaps and bring the case back is0:27unresolved.0:28Nikki Flores and Bradley Benavides each faced one count of lying to Congress.0:33U.S.0:34Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqi dismissed the original complaint against both on Monday,0:39November second, finding no probable cause that either committed the charged0:44offense.0:44The ruling followed three days of evidentiary testimony in federal court in0:48Washington.0:50Prosecutors couldn't clear probable cause, a much lower threshold than the proof0:55beyond a reasonable doubt needed for conviction.0:57Faruqi delivered his decision over about an hour.1:01He said this was the first time on the bench he'd found the government had failed1:05that preliminary test.1:07His criticism reached from the evidence itself to the investigation's leadership and1:12election timing.1:13Faruqi examined three requirements.1:16Prosecutors needed evidence of false statements, knowing and willful conduct, and1:22materiality, meaning relevance to the congressional inquiry.1:25He found they hadn't met the probable cause threshold for any of them.1:29He said there was simply nothing showing either official intended to lie.1:34He contrasted the complaint with false statement prosecutions involving Michael1:38Flynn and Louis Scuder Libby, where the offense requirements had been met.1:43In this case, the lack of motive and direct evidence featured prominently in his1:48reasoning.1:48Without motive, without direct evidence, I have nothing, Faruqi said.1:54It's not close.1:55It's nothing.1:57Those words followed testimony, exposing how little investigators had done to test2:02whether the statements mattered to Congress.2:04FBI's special agent Brian Witt testified.2:07That the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee wouldn't let investigators2:12interview staff members present for the testimony.2:15The only person he was ultimately permitted to interview was Steve Castor, general2:20counsel for the committee's Republicans.2:22Castor acknowledged he hadn't witnessed Benavidi's testimony or reviewed its2:27transcript.2:28Vitt also interviewed nobody representing the committee's Democrats.2:32Prosecutors needed to connect the alleged falsehoods to the congressional inquiry,2:37and those interviews left that work unfinished.2:40Career prosecutors spotted the problem before charges were filed.2:45A recorded conversation disclosed to the defense captured Carlton Davis,2:50acknowledging the mistake.2:51Davis was a political appointee, serving as special counsel to Washington's U.S.2:56attorney.2:56Janine Pierre Fruke quoted Davis, saying, I have one issue that I'm getting hammered3:01on over here.3:03The judge questioned why prosecutors hadn't tested the case internally.3:06Instead, he said, They worked through its problems in open court for the whole world3:12to watch.3:12Witt himself made misstatements while testifying.3:16Faruqi said he didn't believe Witt intended to lie, so he regarded those errors as3:21mistakes.3:22Intent was also central to the charges against Flores, and Benavides, Flores and3:28Denavides appeared voluntarily before the House Judiciary Committee in July and3:32September2023 3.3:34Prosecutors alleged they misled lawmakers about their involvement in and knowledge3:40of FBI investigations concerning Hunter Biden, including information associated with3:45his laptop.3:46One focus was Round River, a counterintelligence operation run by the FBI's foreign3:52influence task force.3:54Prosecutors alleged it collected derogatory informant information about Hunter Biden3:59and others to flag that information as Russian disinformation.4:03Flores served as the task force's deputy assistant director.4:07From mid-2019 through mid-2022 , Benavides was its section chief.4:12From mid-2019 , through the2020 election, both had also held senior intelligence4:18or counterintelligence positions elsewhere in the Bureau.4:22Flores had been a top intelligence analyst at the Washington Field office.4:26Benavides had been a deputy assistant director in the Counter-Intelligence Division.4:32In August2020 , they gave defensive briefings to Senators Charles Grassley and Ron4:38Johnson.4:38Those briefings helped lead to the later congressional testimony.4:42The charging affidavit was filed October20,2026 , about three years4:48after the testimony.4:49Charges arrived about two weeks before the November third midterm elections.4:53Faruki questioned why prosecutors needed to act urgently after waiting that long.4:59He found no looming filing deadline, flight risk or danger requiring immediate5:04charges.5:05He questioned using a criminal complaint.5:07Before presenting the evidence to a grand jury, complaints can lawfully begin5:12criminal cases, but he saw no urgent need for that approach here.5:16Prosecutors also tried adding obstruction of Congress allegations after midnight,5:21before the October27 th hearing.5:23Faruqi struck that unsigned, unsworn replacement complaint because it lacked proper5:29judicial review.5:30He then allowed the hearing on the original complaint to continue.5:34He called the attempted expansion improper and unheard of.5:38He also identified numerous errors and differences between the charging documents.5:43It's clear to me the rushed investigation had a goal, he said.5:46It was a rush to charge, and that is a problem.5:49Witt testified that FBI Director Cash Patel ordered the inquiry opened.5:55That happened the day after President Donald Trump's televised address in mid-July,6:00when Trump repeated false claims about the twenty twenty election and urged6:04investigative action.6:06Trump accused intelligence officials.6:08Of concealing Chinese interference, Patel and senior F.I.6:12officials, including the Bureau's deputy directors, checked the inquiry's progress.6:17Witt acknowledged worrying that the case could appear political.6:21He said colleagues in his Kansas City field office feared it was a witch hunt.6:26Faruqi called the prosecution weaponization.6:29He pointed directly to the election calendar, saying, There was simply no other6:33event on the calendar, except for the midterm elections.6:37He also challenged the government's apparent reluctance to seek grand jury scrutiny.6:42He quoted the Justice Department manual's prohibition on investigative or6:47prosecutorial action intended to influence an election.6:50His criticism also invoked the department's long-standing practice of restraint in6:56politically sensitive cases during the sixty days before voting.7:00I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend I cannot read a calendar.7:05Faruqi said, The department's election period practice.7:09Allows case-specific decisions, while its manual forbids acting, with the purpose of7:15effecting an election.7:16Faruqi also faulted Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Pierrot for public7:22statements maligning the defendants, despite the evidence problems.7:26He warned that the prosecution could damage confidence in the Justice Department and7:30discourage qualified people from joining the FBI.7:33He predicted another consequence for Congress.7:36Witnesses could become less willing to testify voluntarily and more likely to invoke7:41the Fifth Amendment, protecting themselves against self-incrimination.7:45He expressed sympathy for the defendants and for career prosecutors and agents drawn7:50into the case.7:51Flores cried and embraced former colleagues outside the courtroom before hugging7:55Benavides.7:57Former senior FBI and Justice Department officials attended in support, including8:02former acting FBI director Brian Driscoll and former Washington Field Office Chief8:08Steve Jensen.8:09Margaret Donovan.8:10One of Flores's attorneys said, This case should never have been brought.8:15The government had no case.8:17She called the complaint slapdash and said facts and truth still matter in a8:22courtroom.8:23The Justice Department disagreed, saying the ruling appeared to suggest senior8:27officials were immune from accountability for materially false statements.8:32Faruqi's finding concerned the evidence supporting these charges.8:36The department said its actions would follow facts, evidence and law, rather than8:41politics.8:42Prosecutors can still seek a grand jury indictment or appeal to the district's chief8:47judge.8:48The dismissal came before trial, and those routes remain open.8:52The department hasn't announced which, if any, it will pursue.8:56The original complaint against Flores and Benavides is gone.9:00To revive the prosecution, the department would have to confront the evidence9:04failures exposed at the hearing.9:06It says it's evaluating all options and continues to describe the investigation as9:11ongoing.阅读文章事件时间线HeyDex
