Dois ex-funcionários do FBI enfrentam acusações por supostamente mentirem ao Congresso, como parte de uma investigação focada em descobrir se agentes da agência tentaram minimizar alegações de corrupção contra a família Biden e evidências encontradas no laptop de Hunter Biden, filho do ex-presidente dos Estados Unidos Joe Biden, de acordo com fontes e documentos judiciais.

Nikki Floris e Bradley Benavides, ambos ex-especialistas em inteligência baseados em Washington, foram acusados ​​de um crime de declarações falsas. A juíza Zia Faruqui observou na sexta-feira (23), durante a audiência, que as acusações estão relacionadas ao “laptop de Hunter Biden e às alegações que o cercam”.

As acusações referem-se a declarações feitas por Floris e Benavides perante o Comitê Judiciário da Câmara em 2023, quando parlamentares republicanos questionaram o envolvimento de uma força-tarefa do FBI — encarregada de investigar interferência eleitoral — na investigação de Hunter Biden.

 

 

Uma acusação, que se tornou pública no tribunal distrital federal em Washington, acusa ambos de “ocultar o envolvimento (da força-tarefa) e as comunicações relacionadas às investigações sobre Hunter Biden, bem como de obstruir a investigação do Congresso”.

A procuradora federal em Washington, Jeanine Pirro, anunciou as acusações por meio de uma publicação nas redes sociais, indicando que as supostas declarações falsas diziam respeito às “suas funções na Força-Tarefa de Influência Estrangeira (FITF) durante as eleições de 2020”.

Pirro acrescentou que “quando agentes de alto escalão do FBI mentem ao Congresso, acreditando estarem acima da lei, é hora de toda a força da justiça recair sobre eles”.

Segundo Pirro e a denúncia criminal, Benavides testemunhou perante o Congresso que soube da investigação sobre o laptop de Hunter Biden por meio da Wikipédia.

Os republicanos têm criticado repetidamente o FBI pela forma como lidou inicialmente com a investigação de Hunter Biden, em meio a teorias antigas sobre corrupção na família Biden e narrativas da direita sobre um suposto “governo paralelo” dentro do governo federal.

Os dois réus compareceram pela primeira vez perante o tribunal distrital federal em Washington, D.C., na manhã de sexta-feira. Eles permanecerão em liberdade até o julgamento.kash 

A audiência dos ex-funcionários do FBI está marcada para a manhã de terça-feira.

Faruqui destacou que ambos os agentes têm um “histórico impecável” e disse aos promotores que o “contexto alegado ocorreu anos atrás”; ele também indicou que o Ministério Público deveria estar preparado para prosseguir com o caso, visto que “apresentaram esta grave acusação contra dois agentes condecorados”.

O juiz também observou que a acusação era “incomum” e salientou que foi apresentada por meio de uma denúncia do Ministério Público, sem a aprovação de um júri popular.

Durante a audiência desta sexta-feira, Faruqui comentou que as acusações são “claras e diretas”, acrescentando que os policiais — que, de resto, têm antecedentes impecáveis ​​— agora enfrentam acusações em um tribunal federal, que “os assombrarão pelo resto de suas vidas”.

O diretor do FBI, Kash Patel, declarou que as acusações são resultado de uma investigação sobre a Força-Tarefa de Influência Estrangeira do FBI, uma unidade que já foi desmantelada.

Ele também observou que existem registros de Floris afirmando, em conversas privadas, estar administrando um “governo paralelo”.

“Floris liderou a FITF como vice-diretor de meados de 2019 a meados de 2022. Benavides foi chefe de seção na FITF de meados de 2019 até as eleições de 2020”, escreveu ele em X. “Ambos testemunharam que a FITF não estava envolvida nas investigações sobre Hunter Biden. No entanto, evidências documentais, comunicações da época e depoimentos contradizem suas declarações.”

“O fato de altos funcionários do FBI mentirem ao Congresso mina o próprio fundamento do nosso sistema. Ninguém está acima da lei”, acrescentou.

Patel lembrou que, durante seu mandato como chefe do FBI, a equipe de investigação conhecida como CR-15 foi desmantelada. Patel tem sido alvo de críticas constantes por essas demissões, já que os agentes do FBI perderam seus empregos devido ao trabalho realizado em investigações anteriores sobre Trump.

Trump vai superar Biden e se tornar o presidente mais velho dos EUA

 

The Trump administration has now announced or completed deals to take ownership stakes in 40 private companies. Just this week, the Commerce Department added four more proposed stakes to the running count we maintain at the Cato Institute’s Restoring Free Enterprise initiative. Those inclined to applaud the president’s dealmaking should consider what a Democratic president might do with those stakes after Trump is no longer in office.

Democrats are certainly thinking about it. Semafor reports that former Biden officials are licking their chops at the prospect of using government ownership to pressure gun and oil companies. Doug Farrar, who worked for then-Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan during the Biden administration, sees a future president leveraging government ownership to turn the screws on AI companies, "especially a Democrat who wants to seriously regulate this industry." Remember when the Biden administration bullied social media platforms to remove content it didn’t like during the COVID pandemic? That was done without government ownership.

I warned about this two weeks into Trump’s second term after he signed an executive order seeking to create a sovereign wealth fund, noting that a government investment fund would eventually become a vehicle for Democratic administrations to pursue policies Republicans oppose. The White House ditched the idea for a formal fund and proceeded to cobble together an ad hoc presidential portfolio despite having no clear legal authority to do so.

INSIDE TRUMP’S DEAL TO GIVE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS A MASSIVE STAKE IN NEW $6.6B SUBMARINE DEAL

If a Democratic administration had done this, it would be practically impossible to imagine a Congress controlled by Republicans allowing it to continue. And yet congressional Republicans, who never miss a chance to tag Democrats as socialists and communists, have collectively done nothing to stop the Trump administration. In fact, congressional Republicans are actively trying to give the executive branch—and thus future administrations, not just the current administration—the legal authority to continue doing it.

The Trump administration’s supporters cite its claims that equity stakes are better for taxpayers than blank checks, or that they are necessary to bolster supply chains for national security. Setting aside that they aren’t the administration’s true motivation, neither justifies Washington becoming a shareholder in a portfolio of companies.

COMMERCE DEPT TO DEMAND EQUITY FROM 7 TECH COMPANIES AS A CONDITION TO TAP INTO MILLIONS IN FEDERAL FUNDING

Sure, if the government is already handing a company money, getting shares in return sounds better than a straight giveaway. But the trade-offs can’t be ignored. 

When the government picks a racehorse, that horse is given advantages and privileges that leave the competing horses at a disadvantage. But the danger goes well beyond current competitors. Upstart firms, including those that don’t yet exist, already face a steep hill to climb in bringing their products and ideas to market. Government ownership steepens that hill, threatening to stifle the entrepreneurial spirit critical to America’s economic success.

The value of the shares on the government’s books isn’t the same as revenue in the Treasury. Realizing the gains requires selling the shares and subtracting what taxpayers put in. And as my colleague Scott Lincicome explains, Intel’s stock gains partly reflect expectations of government favoritism, including pressure on other companies to use Intel products. That points to the possibility that the government is diverting private investment from businesses with better commercial prospects.

WE WILL ALL PAY FOR THE DEMOCRATS’ ANTITRUST CRUSADE THAT KILLED SPIRIT AIRLINES

Even if the administration could sell its entire Intel stake today, it would net roughly $28 billion—less than 1.5% of the $2 trillion deficit Washington ran up in the fiscal year just ended under President Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress. The stakes the administration has acquired should be divested, regardless. But if the administration wants to raise funds productively, it could revisit Cato’s recommendations to sell excess federal buildings and privatize government businesses like Amtrak.

The national security rationale also sounds reasonable until you realize the federal government already has plenty of ways to support companies on such grounds without becoming an owner. Our Restoring Free Enterprise initiative lays out both market-based and government alternatives to equity stakes that would help bolster critical supply chains. Easing permitting requirements and removing tariffs on production inputs would make it easier for private companies to invest and expand supply. And the government can address specific defense needs through purchase contracts or stockpiles of critical materials.

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Invoking "national security" also has a long-standing tradition in Washington as an excuse for politicians to justify actions they might not otherwise get away with. Back in April, the administration pursued a bailout that could have given the government 90% of Spirit Airlines on dubious national security grounds, until a group of the airline’s bondholders balked at the terms. 

Last week, Politico reported that the Federal Aviation Administration is exploring an ownership stake in a company that develops software for managing air traffic control. National security or not, having the government become an investor in a company it is supposed to evaluate objectively is an objectively bad idea.

Defenders will also point to promises that the government will remain a passive shareholder and argue that concerns about federal control over the corporate boardroom are overblown. That’s a painfully naïve view of how Washington works. The Trump administration is already using contracts and regulatory authority to favor companies it owns.

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While Trump’s supporters may applaud that favoritism today, will they still applaud when a President Gavin Newsom or President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does it? 

No.

That is why Republicans should use the time they still have to end this ownership experiment instead of waiting until a Democratic president makes them wish they had.

The charges intensified the administration’s efforts to go after the law enforcement and intelligence personnel who cast doubt on unsubstantiated claims that Joseph R. Biden Jr. engaged in corrupt dealings in Ukraine.

© Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Two former FBI officials are facing charges for lying to Congress about their involvement in the agency’s investigation into Hunter Biden’s laptop. Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, who worked in the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) in 2019 and 2020, were taken into custody Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on…

Two former FBI officials are facing charges for lying to Congress about their involvement in the agency’s investigation into Hunter Biden’s laptop. Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, who worked in the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) in 2019 and 2020, were taken into custody Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on…

Contents of laptop of Joe Biden’s son were part of a bizarre saga in the final weeks of 2020 presidential election

Two former FBI intelligence officials who specialized in foreign election interference were charged on Friday with making false statements about their roles in investigating the origins of Hunter Biden’s laptop in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.

Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides surrendered on Friday and made their first appearance in federal court in Washington DC. Floris’s legal team expressed outrage at the development coming from the US Department of Justice, the parent agency of the FBI.

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© Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

Two former FBI intelligence officials who specialized in foreign election interference were charged Friday with making false statements about their roles in investigating the origins of Hunter Biden's laptop in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.

The Department of Justice charged two former FBI officials with lying to Congress about their involvement in FBI investigations into Hunter Biden, including matters involving his laptop.

Former FBI officials Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides, according to the DOJ, falsely denied involvement in the investigations into former President Joe Biden’s son when speaking to Congress. Both surrendered Friday on arrest warrants, according to the DOJ.

"Lying to Congress by anyone strikes at the heart of our democratic system, but when senior FBI agents lie to Congress believing they are above the law, it’s time to bring the hammer of justice down on them," U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said of the charges. 

"When senior officials entrusted with safeguarding our nation’s security choose deception over duty, they undermine the very institutions they swore to uphold. Today’s action makes clear that no one is above the law, and we will hold accountable all who obstruct the truth."

FBI CO-DEPUTY DIRECTOR ANDREW BAILEY RESIGNS AFTER YEAR IN ROLE

The Justice Department claims to possess evidence that shows Benavides discussed the laptop story with others in the FBI, contradicting his testimony that he learned about the story from Wikipedia. Similarly, the department says that it has evidence Floris discussed Hunter Biden with members of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF), despite testifying to the contrary.

A statement of facts filed by the DOJ points to 2023 testimony that Floris gave to the House Judiciary Committee where she denied any involvement in the investigation into Biden's son. She answered in the negative to questions about whether there was "ever a discussion at the FITF about Hunter Biden" or if she had "any involvement in the Hunter Biden investigation."

Contrasting these statements, the DOJ pointed to email logs purporting to show that Floris discussed Hunter with colleagues at the bureau. 

Benavides, meanwhile, told lawmakers that he read the Wikipedia page on the laptop story when asked where he learned "that there was an ongoing criminal investigation related to the laptop." The DOJ says emails it has obtained show he was in contact with the team working the investigation into Hunter Biden and that he met with the team prior to a meeting with lawmakers. 

"Nikki Floris is a patriot. She served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years. Yet today, the DOJ has accused her falsely of a crime on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts. It’s no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of an election," her attorneys said in a statement.

Floris served as the deputy assistant director and functional head of FITF while Benavides was the task force's section chief. 

Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson previously accused Floris and Benavides of participating in a 2020 FBI briefing about Russian disinformation that the senators alleged was intended to undermine their investigation into Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings.

Claims that Hunter Biden’s laptop was part of a Russian disinformation operation fueled controversy ahead of the 2020 election. The FBI later authenticated the laptop during Biden’s 2024 federal gun trial, when prosecutors introduced it as evidence.

RUSSIAN SPIES ORCHESTRATED $40K MURDER PLOT IN NATION’S CAPITAL, US ALLEGES

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"This morning the FBI arrested two former FBI members of the now dissolved Foreign Influence Task Force, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, both of whom allegedly lied to Congress in 2023 on matters regarding investigations related to the 2020 election," FBI Director Kash Patel said of the arrests. "One of these individuals is on record privately claiming to be ‘running a shadow government’ during the 2020 election. As we’ve said repeatedly: weaponization will never be tolerated at this FBI."

Lawyers for Floris and Benavides did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Friday. A representative for Hunter Biden also did not respond to an inquiry.

Along with higher oil prices associated with the Iran war, Trump’s tariffs are highly unpopular with the electorate.   

Along with higher oil prices associated with the Iran war, Trump’s tariffs are highly unpopular with the electorate.   

The main investigative unit of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been vigorously promoting on social media an effort it considers crucial in the final weeks before the midterms: pursuing alleged large-scale election fraud by noncitizens — a claim that has obsessed President Donald Trump despite a lack of evidence.

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From Barack Obama to Donald Trump, ideology has infused the interpretation of the federal law banning sex discrimination on college campuses.

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True conservatives are realizing that Trump is using the Republican Party for his own convenience.

True conservatives are realizing that Trump is using the Republican Party for his own convenience.

The Donald Trump administration has done with Ukrainians and Sudanese this week what it did last month with Salvadorans: it has not terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS), but it has not renewed it either. The program that provides legal immigration status to 101,000 Ukrainians and 1,800 Sudanese citizens was set to expire on Monday, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has declined to comment, which for now leaves them protected from deportation.

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U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes shot down the Justice Department’s (DOJ) demand to not participate in a key hearing on Monday on the future of East Potomac Park, which President Trump wants to turn into a championship-style golf course. The Trump administration has alleged that Reyes is biased after she yelled at a government attorney…

Government attorneys sparred with Judge Ana C. Reyes over testimony by several government witnesses about the chain of decisions surrounding East Potomac Golf Links.

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On November 3, voters will head to the polls for the midterm elections, which will determine whether Donald Trump’s Republicans retain a friendly Congress or whether Democrats take control of one or both chambers, enabling them to mount a more aggressive opposition by blocking legislation, budgets and appointments during the final two years of his term.

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La aprobación de Donald Trump cae al 36%, su nivel más bajo en sondeos de Fox News. El costo de la vida domina las preocupaciones económicas de los estadounidenses a semanas de las elecciones de noviembre.

At a rally, he spoke highly of the backside of John Husted, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Ohio. He has posted one video after another of big cats attacking real people before sharing one — created with artificial intelligence — in which he is seen fending off a fearsome lion, dressed in a suit and with his bare hands. And he has repeated tired memes disrespecting Greenland, as well as an endless stream of clips and videos flattering himself.

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