“Today, we’re seeing accountability efforts in action.”
BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA – U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) issued a statement after the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges against Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, two former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials accused of lying to Congress about their roles in the FBI’s Hunter Biden investigation and related matters.
On August 6, 2020, Floris and Benavides provided Grassley and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) an unnecessary briefing on behalf of the FBI, Intelligence Community and the discredited Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) on matters purportedly related to the senators’ investigation into Hunter Biden and Biden family corruption. The briefing led to a leak and other obstructive, partisan conduct that falsely labeled Grassley and Johnson’s investigation as advancing Russian disinformation.
Grassley and Johnson’s investigation was based on authentic Obama administration records and bank records, and corroborating evidence was later found on Hunter Biden’s laptop. The senators jointly released a report summarizing their Biden family oversight in September 2020. In 2022, they gave three Senate floor speeches making public reams of banking records connecting the Biden family to foreign interests, including China. DOJ’s criminal complaint notes Floris testified to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee that she was unfamiliar with the Grassley-Johnson report, despite evidence she reviewed the report the day it was released and had other knowledge.
“These two unelected bureaucrats used the power of government to smear my and Senator Johnson’s constitutional oversight and distract from inconvenient truths that weaponized bureaucrats and the Biden administration didn’t want you to know. For years, Congress and the American people were fed lies from federal law enforcement, the Intelligence Community and the liberal media to protect the Bidens at all costs – all while Jack Smith burned up taxpayer dollars attempting to throw President Trump in prison.
“Today, we’re seeing accountability efforts in action. I appreciate the Department of Justice and the FBI’s work to root out government corruption and embrace transparency. At long last, Americans can see all the facts and evidence for themselves.”
Background:
Floris and Benavides were FITF members and participated in FITF’s Operation Round River. Since 2022, Grassley has raised concerns based on lawful whistleblower disclosures regarding Operation Round River, which sought to shut down investigations into Biden family criminality by painting legitimate oversight – like Grassley and Johnson’s – as Russian disinformation. Grassley recently exposed that government personnel used unapproved classification codes on Round River records.
Floris also intervened to stop agents from fully investigating intelligence regarding potential election interference in 2020, despite then-Director Wray’s pledge that the FBI would “investigate seriously” all election-related threats.
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