(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A former FBI official is facing renewed scrutiny after allegedly acknowledging in 2020 that she ran a “shadow government” while working to prevent a tip about Chinese election interference from reaching then-President Donald Trump.
At the center of the controversy is Nikki Floris, a former member of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, who reportedly led efforts to retract an intelligence tip related to possible Chinese efforts to influence the 2020 presidential election.
Floris questioned the intelligence report and played a role in efforts to ensure it did not reach Trump’s President’s Daily Brief, even as the president was publicly raising concerns about election integrity, according to declassified documents first reported by Just the News and the Daily Caller.
Floris, who currently serves as Microsoft’s director of insider risk, did not respond to Headline USA’s request for comment or an interview.
NEW🚨: Meet Nikki Floris: FBI analyst who bragged about running a ‘shadow government’ inside the Bureau, according to a just-released declassified document.
She’s now Director of Insider Risk at Microsoft. https://t.co/KlMB75esys pic.twitter.com/9GVYcQdszO
— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) July 17, 2026
In one message to a colleague, Floris seemed to express frustration over the intelligence report, writing, “Another f**king IIR went out re election security.” The intelligence tip indicated that China sought to influence the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden, according to the government files.
As another FBI official prepared to include the information in Trump’s daily intelligence briefing, Floris responded that the tip had “been retracted.”
“I am basically running a shadow government inside the FBI right now,” Floris reportedly wrote.
“Do what you have to do :)” another official wrote, as quoted by the Daily Caller.
Trump highlighted the episode during his primetime address on Thursday, blasting FBI officials for withholding information about alleged Chinese election interference.
“Another official inside the FBI wrote that she was running a ‘shadow government’ to keep intelligence about China’s election meddling from becoming known,” Trump said.
Wow! FBI official actually wrote in an email they were running a “shadow government” to keep President Trump and the public from knowing about China’s election meddling in 2020 pic.twitter.com/My2Q9Ftz1M
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) July 17, 2026
Floris previously came under congressional scrutiny in 2025 after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley revealed allegations that FBI officials suppressed information related to China’s election meddling.
Grassley suggested that Floris’s actions may have been connected to efforts to shield then-FBI Director Christopher Wray from criticism after Wray dismissed concerns about foreign efforts to undermine the election through ballot meddling.
Trump cited the Floris documents as evidence that federal elections need stronger security protections, directly pointing to the SAVE Act.
Trump has since ordered the DOJ to criminally investigate the matter, though it is unclear whether Floris would be a target of the probe.
