Judge rejects new obstruction charge against two ex-FBI officials, rebukes DOJ

A federal magistrate judge on Tuesday refused to approve a new obstruction charge against two former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress, and sharply criticized the Justice Department for how it filed the paperwork ¹².

Nikki Floris, former head of the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, and Bradley Benavides, the task force's former section chief, were arrested Friday on charges of making false statements to Congress under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, according to the Washington Examiner ². Both deny wrongdoing and were released after their arrests ².

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Prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office in Washington filed a "superseding criminal complaint" overnight that sought to add obstruction and attempted obstruction of a congressional proceeding under 18 U.S.C. § 1505 ². The document was not signed by any law enforcement officer or judge, NBC News reported ¹.

Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui said prosecutors had created "their own category of charging" ¹. "I am not going to bless it as a superseding complaint," he said, according to the Washington Examiner ².

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Prosecutor John Borchert of the U.S. attorney's office for Washington acknowledged in court that "this has never been done before" but suggested the complaint could be signed during the hearing ¹. Faruqui denied the request and struck the new complaint ¹.

The judge questioned why the Justice Department had not followed what it has done in "every other case in the history of this district" ¹. He said he did not doubt the prosecution acted in good faith but was concerned that "this system is being misused by people of higher levels" ¹.

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Floris's lawyer, Mary Dohrmann, said there is mounting evidence the case is a "political football," not a case about "the law or the facts" ¹. In a statement, her legal team called the latest filing "outrageous government conduct against a decorated public servant" ¹.

The defense motion said the filing "represents a serious abuse of the criminal charging process" ². Defense attorneys argued prosecutors filed the document at 12:20 a.m. to disrupt the hearing and avoid testing whether the original allegations established probable cause ².

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, shrugged off questions about the new complaint before the judge tossed it ¹. "It's up to Judge Faruqui as to whether or not he wants to sign that," she said ¹.

After Faruqui tossed out the new complaint, the hearing on the original charge continued. FBI Special Agent Bryan Witt testified that the bureau's investigation started after FBI Director Kash Patel sent a letter directing the Kansas City, Missouri, office to look into certain people, including Floris ¹.

Witt said he felt the task was a major distraction from a big public corruption case he was involved with at the time, and he raised concerns that it would be viewed as political ¹. He said the investigation was made a priority and that agents were instructed to pursue it aggressively ¹.

Asked who was pushing him, Witt mentioned check-ins from high-level officials, including Patel and an FBI deputy director. Asked whether Patel pressed him, he said he didn't ¹.

Faruqui's refusal to approve the proposed complaint did not, by itself, resolve the original false-statements charges against either defendant ². The case returns to court as the midterm election, set for Nov. 3, approaches.

That matters because the episode puts a judge's skepticism of the Justice Department's charging practices on the record just before voters go to the polls, in a case the defense calls political and the government says is about false statements to Congress ¹².

The Record

1. Oct 23, 2026Floris and Benavides were arrested Friday on charges of making false statements to Congress ².
2. Oct 27, 2026Prosecutors filed a superseding complaint at 12:20 a.m. seeking to add an obstruction charge ².
3. Oct 27, 2026Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui refused to approve the new complaint and struck it ¹².

Sources

1. NBC News, “Judge berates DOJ attorney in court over new charge filed against former FBI officials” (2026-10-27). nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/judge-berates-doj-at
2. Washington Examiner, “Judge rebukes DOJ over new charges against ex-FBI officials” (2026-10-27). washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/4781528/judge-slams-fede

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