Monday’s unused 48 already ran. Sunday’s unused Lucas already ran. This is Tuesday’s unused charging paper. A complaint is not a conviction.
CBS, Sarah N. Lynch, Tuesday 9:25 a.m. ET: federal prosecutors filed an unsigned and unsworn superseding complaint early Tuesday against former FBI officials Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, hours before a listed preliminary hearing in Washington. CNBC, Kevin Breuninger, 11:19 a.m. ET: the new count is obstruction and attempted obstruction of a congressional proceeding, on top of Friday’s charge of making false statements to Congress. CNBC: the original complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. That is a complaint. It is not a grand-jury indictment. They were arrested Friday and released. D.D.C. calendar: 26-mj-0185, USA v. Floris and USA v. Benavides, Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui, 11:00 a.m., Courtroom 4, preliminary hearing. A listing is not a probable-cause finding this desk invents. We will not invent an 11 a.m. ruling.
CBS, same Tuesday file: the superseding complaint alleges they “knowingly and willfully provided materially false statements to the Committee about their respective awareness of and involvement in the FBI's investigations into Hunter Biden, and thereby corruptly obstructed, and impeded and endeavored to influence, obstruct, and impede the due proper administration of the law.” Those are allegations. They are not findings. Testimony: Floris July 19, 2023; Benavides September 28, 2023. The paper names the Foreign Influence Task Force and an operation called “Round River.” Floris: deputy assistant director of FITF mid-2019 through mid-2022. Benavides: section chief mid-2019 through the 2020 election. CBS Friday leftover, not first-day: Floris, 46; Benavides, 56; one count each of lying to Congress. Friday leftover also had Floris answering “I did not” on involvement and Benavides answering “The Wikipedia page.” Those quotes already sat on Friday’s unused complaint. We will not reprint them as this morning’s unused paper. We will not reprint Monday’s unused 48. We will not reprint Sunday’s unused Lucas.
Floris’s lawyers, statement to CBS and CNBC: “What is going on at the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office? In the middle of the night, the government filed an unsigned and unsworn complaint attempting to fix the issues with their original charge against Ms. Floris and adding a new charge just as meritless as the first one.” “In our combined decades of DOJ service, we have never seen or even heard of something like this being filed.” They say public lodging of criminal charges must be authorized by a grand jury, a judge, or the defendant. They asked the court to strike the superseding complaint as legally deficient and filed in bad faith. A motion is not a strike. CNBC: an attorney for Benavides and Jeanine Pirro’s office did not immediately respond. CBS Friday leftover: Faruqui called the original charging manner “strange” and said, “This is the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.” That leftover is not today’s unused superseding. Monday leftover Comey information already sat unsealed; it is not this complaint. Nov. 3 is still the election. All defendants are presumed innocent. If the week is too heavy, 988.
What this means for you
If you needed Monday’s unused crime, it still stands as 48 charged, not 48 convicted. If you needed this noon’s unused paper, it is an overnight superseding complaint, not an indictment, not a verdict. If you needed an 11 a.m. finding, wait.
Bottom line: Overnight complaint. Obstruction added. Not convicted. Not 48 reprinted. Not Lucas reprinted.
GLHR NEWS explains the news. Not investment, tax, or trading advice. Do your own work before you act.
