FBI Agent Testifies Director Patel Directed Probe of Two Ex-Officials

A federal judge has paused a criminal case against two former FBI officials to scrutinize the evidence and the origins of the investigation.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui ordered a line-by-line review of the charging document to determine if probable cause exists. The review is scheduled for Thursday. The case involves Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, who are accused of willfully lying to the House Judiciary Committee about their roles in Hunter Biden investigations.

FBI agent Bryan Witt testified that Director Kash Patel instructed his supervisor in the Kansas City field office to open the probe. This directive came one day after President Trump gave a televised speech directing the Justice Department to examine an alleged intelligence cover-up related to Chinese interference in the 2020 election. Witt stated he was initially directed to investigate whether the former officials suppressed evidence about China. The investigation later shifted to focus on their 2023 congressional testimony.

Defense attorneys raised doubts about the precision of the questions asked of Floris. Margaret Donovan, Floris' lawyer, noted that the questioner did not specify which of several Hunter Biden investigations Floris was discussing. Witt agreed that agents had not interviewed key witnesses, including Floris herself or congressional staff with direct knowledge of the testimony. He also admitted that agents were not permitted to interview other congressional staffers to assess the materiality of the statements.

Prosecutors used a criminal complaint rather than a grand jury indictment to charge the pair. They then added new obstruction charges via an unsigned and unsworn superseding complaint after midnight on the eve of the hearing. Judge Faruqui called this maneuver improper and unheard of but allowed the hearing on the original complaint to proceed. Defense lawyers identified discrepancies between the two versions of the complaint regarding the presence of a key congressional staffer.

Witt testified that Patel and the FBI deputy director closely monitored the case progress. He said the team routinely provided updates to headquarters, and Patel participated in video conferences with the case team. He also admitted that Patel effectively injected himself as a witness and almost a case agent. Prosecutors argued that the testimony regarding the origins of the case was not relevant to the current probable cause finding. They stated that such issues could be raised at a later time.

The hearing took place in federal court in Washington, D.C. Witt told the court that he feels confident in the veracity of the allegations against Benavides and Floris. However, he acknowledged that the investigation might be viewed as political. The government alleges that Floris and Benavides spoke with the Baltimore investigative team before providing a defensive briefing on possible Russian disinformation to Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson.