Ex-CIA Director John Brennan Referred for Criminal Prosecution

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have formally referred former CIA Director John Brennan to Attorney General Pam Bondi for criminal prosecution.

Brennan is accused of knowingly lying to Congress about the CIA’s use of the discredited “Steele dossier” in the 2016 Trump–Russia “investigation.”

The former CIA chief, who now serves as an on-air commentator for NBC and MSNBC, allegedly made “willfully and intentionally false statements” during his 2023 testimony before the committee, according to a referral letter sent Tuesday by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH).

Jordan: Brennan “Knowingly Made False Statements”

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In his Tuesday letter, Jordan said Brennan “knowingly made false statements during his transcribed interview” with the committee in May 2023.

Jordan cited multiple examples, including Brennan’s insistence that the CIA played no role in reviewing or incorporating the Steele dossier into post-election intelligence assessments.

“I said the first time I actually saw it, it was after the election,” Brennan told lawmakers at the time, according to the letter.

“And the CIA was not involved at all with the dossier.

“You can direct that to the FBI and to others.”

Jordan wrote that declassified records contradict that testimony, showing the CIA was directly involved in handling the Steele dossier.

CIA Documents Contradict Brennan’s Testimony

According to newly declassified documents obtained by The Federalist, a CIA officer drafted an annex summarizing the Steele dossier, which Brennan and then–FBI Director James Comey included in the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) that followed Trump’s 2016 victory.

“As the newly declassified documents demonstrate, Brennan eagerly wanted to include information from the Steele dossier in the ICA, a fact Brennan himself documented in writing,” Jordan wrote.

“This directly contradicts Brennan’s testimony that ‘the CIA was very much opposed to having any reference or inclusion of the Steele dossier in the [ICA]’ because as the Director of the CIA, Brennan spoke for the Agency.”

Jordan’s letter also alleges that Brennan overruled senior CIA officials who objected to including the dossier’s unverified claims.

Discredited Dossier at the Center of Collusion Narrative

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The Steele dossier, compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, was commissioned as opposition research by Democrats during the 2016 campaign and alleged a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

The dossier has since been thoroughly discredited, including by former Special Counsel John Durham, whose 2023 report concluded the FBI “did not corroborate a single substantive allegation” from Steele’s material.

Despite this, the dossier was used in FISA warrant applications to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Brennan and Clapper Defend Their Actions

Earlier this year, Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper co-authored an essay in The New York Times defending their role in the 2016 investigation.

“Despite claims by Trump administration officials of a nefarious political conspiracy, we did everything we could at the time to prevent leaks of intelligence reports,” they wrote.

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The pair maintained that “every serious review has substantiated the intelligence community’s fundamental conclusion that the Russians conducted an influence campaign intended to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election.”

Trump and Allies Say “Russia Collusion” Was a Hoax

President Donald Trump and many Republicans have long argued that the Russia collusion narrative was a politically motivated hoax designed to cripple his first term.

Trump has repeatedly accused former intelligence officials of leaking classified information to the press in order to damage his presidency.

The referral against Brennan comes one month after former FBI Director James Comey was charged by federal prosecutors with making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation.

Comey pleaded not guilty and claimed the prosecution was politically motivated.

His legal team has since filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan was not lawfully appointed and that he is being targeted “because of Trump’s personal directives.”

Trump, who has openly called for investigations into Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and former adviser John Bolton, has seen multiple figures tied to the original Russia probe face criminal charges in recent months.

Accountability for “The Biggest Political Scandal in Modern History”

Republicans on the Judiciary Committee say the Brennan referral is part of a broader effort to hold intelligence officials accountable for what they describe as the “biggest political scandal in modern history.”

Jordan’s letter requests that AG Bondi pursue criminal prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 for making materially false statements to Congress.

“The American people deserve to know the truth about how federal intelligence agencies were weaponized to undermine a sitting president,” a senior Judiciary aide told reporters.

“No one — not even a former CIA director — is above the law.”

READ MORE – Federal Prosecutors Target Conflict of Interest in James Comey’s Defense

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