In 2023, a former head of an FBI unit told Congress that he learned about Hunter Biden's laptop being held by US intelligence services from "Wikipedia." However, according to materials of a new criminal case, three years prior to that statement, he himself scheduled an official meeting titled "Discuss Laptop." Now both him and his former colleague face up to five years in prison.

On October 23, 2026, the US Department of Justice announced charges against two former FBI officials — 46-year-old Nikki Koll Floris and 56-year-old Bradley Benavides. According to the prosecution, they provided Congress with false information about their role in investigations related to the son of former US President Joe Biden.

The story brings attention back to the Hunter Biden laptop scandal that erupted shortly before the 2020 presidential election. The documents also mention the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, on whose board of directors the younger Biden served.

"Wikipedia" vs. FBI official correspondence

In September 2023, Bradley Benavides was answering questions from the House Judiciary Committee. Lawmakers wanted to know what FBI employees knew about Hunter Biden's laptop and related investigations on the eve of the 2020 election.

Benavides acknowledged back then that he had heard about the public story of the laptop. However, he claimed he learned about it being in the possession of the FBI only from a "Wikipedia" article, which he read while preparing for his testimony before Congress.

When asked when he became aware of the criminal investigation related to the laptop, he also cited "Wikipedia." At the same time, the former employee denied possessing relevant official information during his tenure at the bureau.

But the prosecution presented a different chronology.

According to a published 27-page statement of facts, on October 14, 2020, when the New York Post first published materials about the laptop, Benavides took part in preparing FBI responses to journalists' and Congress's inquiries.

And on October 22, he sent an invitation to a meeting titled "Discuss Laptop" to an employee of the FBI's criminal division.

According to a meeting participant who investigators interviewed in October 2026, those present discussed in detail the origin of the device and its contents. The employee claims he directly told Benavides that the FBI possessed data from the laptop belonging to Hunter Biden.

The prosecution believes that this correspondence and the witness testimony contradict Benavides's answers to Congress. The defense disputes the charges.

What the second defendant allegedly hid, according to the prosecution

Nikki Floris from 2019 to 2022 headed the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force. Benavides led one of its sections.

The unit was responsible for detecting attempts of foreign interference in US elections, including alleged Russian information operations.

In July 2023, Floris told Congress that she did not participate in investigations against Hunter Biden and did not personally discuss his case within her unit.

However, the investigation claims that official documents from 2020–2021 show the opposite: Floris received information about the investigations, exchanged messages with colleagues, and participated in discussions of related issues.

The prosecution believes that the answers of both former officials prevented lawmakers from obtaining additional documents and conducting new interviews of bureau employees.

What does the Ukrainian Burisma have to do with this

The case materials mention the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. Hunter Biden served on its board, and his business ties with the company repeatedly became the subject of political investigations in the US.

On September 23, 2020, US Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson published a report on the Biden family's foreign business dealings.

According to the prosecution, that same day, Floris sent colleagues a link to the document and a summary of its contents, including parts concerning Burisma.

But during her Congressional testimony in 2023, she stated that as far as she knew, she had not seen that report before.

The investigation uses official correspondence as one piece of evidence of the alleged falsehood of her answers.

It is important to note that the current criminal case is not devoted to verifying corruption allegations against the Biden family. Its subject is the accuracy of information provided to Congress by former FBI employees.

What role did Russian disinformation play

The documents also mention an FBI project called Round River. Within its framework, analysts studied reports from informants, including negative information about Hunter Biden, to assess their possible connection to Russian disinformation.

Republicans in Congress had previously accused the bureau of potentially downplaying information inconvenient for the Biden family under the pretext of combating foreign interference.

However, these claims do not equate to established facts. The legality of the Round River project itself is not the subject of the charges filed on October 23.

Defense claims political motives, judge demands explanations

Both former FBI officials voluntarily surrendered to authorities on October 23 and appeared before a federal court in Washington that same day.

Each is charged with one count of making false statements to Congress. The maximum penalty under the relevant statute is up to five years in prison.

Floris's attorneys rejected the charges, calling her a dedicated employee who devoted nearly 20 years to the FBI. According to the defense, the case has political motives.

Benavides's attorney, Ron Safer, also noted that the events occurred several years ago and that the materials underlying the charge had long been in the government's possession.

Notably, the timing of the charges: there were only 11 days left before the midterm elections to the US Congress, scheduled for November 3.

Questions were raised by federal judge Zia Faruqui. As CBS News reports, the judge called it unusual to charge such old events based on a criminal complaint without first obtaining an indictment from a grand jury.

He denied the prosecution's request to postpone the preliminary hearing for two weeks or more.

What will happen on October 27

A preliminary hearing is set for October 27. The court must determine whether the prosecution has presented sufficient grounds to continue criminal proceedings.

If a grand jury approves an indictment before then, the preliminary hearing may not be needed.

Floris and Benavides have not been found guilty. The documents and testimony presented by the prosecution still need to be evaluated within the judicial process.

Thus, the six-year-old story of Hunter Biden's laptop has taken another turn. Now the focus of the proceedings is not so much the contents of the device itself, but the question of what senior FBI officials knew before the 2020 election and why, three years later, they gave Congress the particular answers they did.

Sources: US Department of Justice, court documents in case No. 1:26-mj-00185-MJS, CBS News and NPR.