Judge Zia Faruqui dismissed the case against Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides from the bench. He talked for nearly an hour. Nobody interrupted him. Not even the prosecutors, who had the most to say.
His key line was about a calendar. ,"I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend that I cannot read a calendar.", Legal scholars call this the Gregorian defense. It has never lost.
The timeline is brisk. ,The investigation was opened on FBI Director Kash Patel's orders the day after President Trump's primetime address in mid-July., ,Charges came about two weeks ago., That is faster than my brokerage processes a withdrawal. It is also faster than the DOJ checked its own work.
Faruqui called the probe rushed and full of "critical mistakes." He also said the case was ,"marketing material to discourage people from joining the FBI.", A recruitment ad that ends with an arrest. Hard to hit quota that way.
The government failed the lowest bar in criminal law. ,Benavides' lawyers said it could not meet the "extremely low burden of probable cause.", Probable cause is the participation trophy of the legal system. The DOJ showed up and still went home empty-handed.
One allegation had Benavides telling the House he learned details on Wikipedia. Prosecutors built a felony case on that. Wikipedia, the source your cousin cites for his crypto thesis.
Retail traders will find this familiar. You also act on a hunch, skip the research, and call it conviction. You also learn about the deadline after the deadline. The difference is that you lose your own money. The DOJ lost the taxpayers' credibility.
Floris cried outside the courtroom. Former colleagues hugged her. Her attorneys called the complaint a ,"slap-dash complaint, spaghetti-at-the wall, Hunter Biden conspiracy fever dream.", Spaghetti at least has a cooking time.
The midterms are days away. The case is gone. The calendar remains undefeated.
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