Two former FBI intelligence officials who specialised in foreign election interference have been charged with making false statements about their part in examining the origins of Hunter Biden's laptop before the 2020 election, PBS NewsHour reports, citing the Associated Press.
Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides surrendered on Friday and appeared in federal court in Washington. Lawyers for Floris said she was a patriot who had served for nearly 20 years and called the charges politically timed.
The case comes 10 days before the 3 November midterm elections and is a rare prosecution of former bureau staff. It forms part of a wider review by the FBI director, Kash Patel, of contested episodes in the agency's recent past. The laptop's contents were first published by the New York Post in October 2020, weeks before Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump.
Source: PBS NewsHour
