Judge who apologized to accused would-be Trump assassin lights up DOJ in Hunter Biden FBI case

Judge Zia Faruqui rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to add obstruction charges against two former FBI officials, saying prosecutors had filed an unsigned, unsworn complaint without first obtaining judicial approval. He called the filing inappropriate and harmful to the defendants, and allowed the preliminary hearing to proceed on the original allegations.

Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides were arrested last week over alleged false statements to Congress about their roles in investigations involving Hunter Biden. The revised complaint softened the descriptions of their involvement, saying they were “involved in” the FBI task force’s work rather than at its “centre”, and that Floris took part in “conversations” rather than “scores of conversations”. Their lawyers said the changes raise questions about the case’s factual basis.