Judge throws proposed charges against former FBI officials out of Hunter Biden probe record
Judge rejects filing process
Magistrate Judge Faruqui said prosecutors could not place the new complaint on the public docket without judicial review. He ordered the revised charging documents struck from the record, while leaving open the possibility of a properly submitted request for additional charges.
Faruqui said the complaint was unsigned and unsworn, calling that approach inappropriate and harmful to the defendants. Prosecutor John Borchert acknowledged that adding charges this way was also unprecedented in his experience.
Dispute over probable cause
Borchert asked whether the FBI agent who submitted an affidavit could swear to the filing, followed by a hearing on probable cause. He said the government was not afraid of a probable-cause finding.
Faruqui criticized what he described as repeated unusual decisions in the case, including how it was charged and the use of an out-of-town special assistant U.S. attorney. He said those choices were raising concerns.
Defense challenges changes
Mary Dohrmann, an attorney for Floris, told the court that the proposed complaint differed substantially from the original and raised questions about accuracy. Floris’ legal team said the new filing sought to repair problems with the original charge while adding another charge it considered meritless.
In a statement, the defense lawyers argued that criminal charges must be authorized by a grand jury, a judge or the defendant. They said the filing threatened their client’s ability to challenge the case in court.
Allegations concern Hunter Biden
The superseding complaint alleges that the defendants knowingly made materially false statements to a congressional committee about their awareness of matters related to the Foreign Influence Task Force. The article’s description of the allegation ends mid-sentence.
The complaint focuses on testimony about the task force and an operation called Round River. That operation gathered derogatory informant reporting, including material concerning Hunter Biden, to flag it as Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 election; prosecutors allege the testimony sought to conceal the task force’s involvement and impede a congressional investigation.
Key points
- A magistrate judge rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to add charges without prior judicial review.
- The proposed complaint was unsigned and unsworn, and the judge ordered it struck from the record.
- The defense questioned the accuracy of substantial changes to the complaint.
- The allegations concern testimony about an FBI task force and Hunter Biden-related reporting.