CIA insiders alarmed as new prosecutor is appointed to Trump retribution probe

The FBI has begun interviewing current and former CIA employees as part of a Department of Justice investigation into ex-CIA director John Brennan over his role in a 2017 intelligence assessment concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election to help Donald Trump.

Employees were questioned last week by FBI agents from the Miami field office at CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia, with interviews expected to continue throughout the coming weeks. About a dozen current and former CIA officers who worked on the 2017 assessment have been questioned so far, according to a Reuters exclusive report.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida has been investigating whether Brennan made a false statement to Congress in 2023 when discussing the intelligence assessment. The core conclusions of that assessment—which examined Russia's cyber-espionage and influence efforts to boost Trump's candidacy—were later affirmed by the Justice Department, a bipartisan Senate committee, and a CIA review.

Prosecutors are examining the extent to which the assessment's conclusions were shaped by the Steele dossier, a controversial document of unverified claims about Trump's ties to Russia. The dossier was authored by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and funded by Trump's political opponents. Brennan has maintained that the CIA opposed including the dossier in the report and that its classified summary was only included as a compromise with the FBI.

President Trump, who has called the Russia investigation a "hoax," has pushed prosecutors to investigate those he believes were involved in spearheading the probe, including Brennan. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee, referred Brennan to the DOJ in October, alleging he lied during congressional testimony by saying the CIA was "not involved at all" with the Steele dossier.

Brennan's lawyer told a federal judge in Miami that prosecutors identified his client as a target of the investigation. The lawyer claimed prosecutors were "judge shopping" by attempting to steer the case to a Trump-appointed judge in Fort Pierce, Florida, who previously dismissed a criminal case against Trump. Sources expect any charges would be filed in Washington, D.C., where Brennan's congressional testimony occurred.

Recent staffing changes have intensified concerns within the intelligence community. Attorney General Todd Blanche helped oversee the investigation when it was run by Pam Bondi, whom Trump fired in April. The Justice Department then removed the veteran Miami prosecutor leading the Brennan investigation and installed Joe DiGenova, a former federal prosecutor and conservative legal commentator who has been critical of Brennan, to oversee the probe.

DiGenova's appointment has alarmed current and former CIA employees who worry he will pursue anyone in the intelligence community whom Trump perceives to have been involved in politically motivated investigations. In an unusual development, prosecutors withdrew several subpoenas for witnesses to testify before a federal grand jury in Washington in mid-April, shortly after the subpoenas were issued.

The Brennan investigation is one of several Trump administration probes targeting officials from the prior administration.

Since returning to office, Trump has directed the Justice Department to investigate figures he views as adversaries in the Russia probe, including former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. Intelligence community officials express concern that investigations are being weaponized for political purposes rather than driven by prosecutorial merit.

The withdrawal of grand jury subpoenas and replacement of veteran prosecutors with Trump loyalists has fueled suspicions among current and former intelligence employees that the investigations prioritize political retribution over justice. These developments have raised questions about the independence of the Justice Department and the politicization of federal law enforcement.

• george conway
• noam chomsky
• civil war
• Kayleigh mcenany
• Melania trump
• drudge report
• paul krugman
• Lindsey graham
• Lincoln project
• al franken bill maher
• People of praise
• Ivanka trump
• eric trump