The charges were reported on October 23, 2026, by PBS NewsHour, The Guardian and The Hill. The officials were described as former FBI intelligence specialists focused on foreign election interference.
The case centers on the FBI’s investigation of Hunter Biden’s laptop in the period leading up to the 2020 presidential election. The Hill reports that Floris and Benavides worked in the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force in 2019 and 2020.
The Guardian reports that Floris and Benavides surrendered and made their first appearance in federal court in Washington, D.C. The Hill also reports that FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post that the two officials had been taken into custody.
The supplied reports describe the conduct in terms of false statements about the officials’ roles; The Hill specifically characterizes the case as involving alleged lies to Congress. The available material does not establish the exact criminal statutes or the number of counts, so those details cannot be determined from the supplied reports.