Latest news with #TrumpRussia
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former CIA Director John Brennan 'clueless' about why FBI would investigate him
Former CIA Director John Brennan told MSNBC on Wednesday that he was "clueless" as to what the FBI could be investigating him for after Fox News Digital reported he could be prosecuted for alleged wrongdoing in the Trump-Russia collusion probe. Justice Department sources told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that current CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred evidence of wrongdoing to FBI Director Kash Patel for potential prosecution, citing Brennan's handling of the 2017 Russia collusion investigation as an example. An investigation into former FBI Director James Comey is also said to be underway. Brennan told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline: White House" that he had already testified in front of several congressional committees regarding his decisions on the investigation and stood by his work. Trump 'Misrepresented' Hunter Biden Laptop Letter, John Brennan Complains After Losing Security Clearance "I think that the people who actually worked this, both in terms of trying to collect intelligence prior to the election and then the ones who put together the intelligence assessment, they really, I think, showed the best of what the intelligence community and what CIA is made of," Brennan said. "So again, I am clueless about what it is exactly that they may be investigating me for." He added that he had not been contacted by the DOJ on the matter. Read On The Fox News App "So I don't know whether or not there's any validity to it," Brennan said. "If there was, it was a referral. If there is an investigation, presumably if there is an investigation, then people will be questioned. I would be questioned about it. But again, I've had no contact from them." The Brennan investigation comes after Ratcliffe last week declassified a "lessons learned" review of the creation of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). The 2017 ICA alleged Russia sought to influence the 2016 presidential election to help then-candidate Donald Trump. But the review found that the process of the ICA's creation was rushed with "procedural anomalies," and that officials diverted from intelligence standards. John Brennan's Closed-door Hearing 'Confirmed' Hunter Laptop Letter Was 'All Political': Jim Jordan It also determined that the decision to include the Steele dossier, a now-widely discredited anti-Trump document, "ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment." Records declassified as part of that review further revealed that Brennan did, in fact, push for the dossier to be included in the 2017 ICA. Brennan testified to the House Judiciary Committee in May 2023, however, that he did not believe the dossier should be included in that intelligence article source: Former CIA Director John Brennan 'clueless' about why FBI would investigate him
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former FBI and CIA directors under investigation by Trump's Justice Department
The FBI has reportedly launched criminal investigations into former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey after a referral from current CIA chief John Ratcliffe. While the full nature of the alleged investigations are unclear, a source told CNN the probe concerned the potential of false statements to Congress. Sources told Fox News the FBI believed the pair of Obama-era officials had engaged in an unspecified 'conspiracy.' 'I am clueless about what it is exactly that they may be investigating me for,' Brennan said Wednesday on MSNBC, where he is a contributor, adding that he hadn't been contacted by the FBI, DOJ, or CIA. The Justice Department told CNN it does not comment on ongoing investigations. The Independent has contacted the CIA and a representative of Comey for comment. President Donald Trump was asked Wednesday about Comey and Brennan reportedly being under criminal investigation related to the Trump–Russia probe. "Well, I know nothing about it other than what I read today," Trump said. "But I will tell you, I think they're very dishonest people. I think they're crooked as hell. And, maybe they have to pay a price for that." "I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people," the president added. "So whatever happens, happens." The reported investigation comes less than a week after the CIA publicly released a June memo to Ratcliffe, which criticized intelligence officials' handling of allegations in late 2016 that Russia aspired to assist the first Trump presidential campaign. The CIA review, which delved into the creation of a December 2016 intelligence community assessment on the Russia allegations, accused Brennan of pushing to include information from a Democrat-funded dossier in the assessment, even though the CIA official later testified in Congress he did not want the information included. Information from the dossier was ultimately included in an annex to the assessment, which noted its claims only had 'limited corroboration' and were not used in the review's ultimate analytic conclusions. The partially redacted CIA review does not mention Comey in any of its public portions, though Ratcliffe suggested the memo concerned him as well. The current CIA director wrote in a July 2 post on X that the document showed Brennan, Comey, and others had 'manipulated intelligence and silenced career professionals — all to get Trump.' The handling of the Russia allegations, which eventually prompted an FBI investigation into the Trump campaign, have already been subject to numerous reviews. The Justice Department's inspector general concluded in 2019 that FBI officials had sufficient reason to open an investigation into potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia and had acted without bias, though it noted major errors in the process, including around an application to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser. A special counsel appointed during Trump's first term found no wrongdoing in the handling of intelligence about potential Russia links, though it ended in the indictment of three people, including a former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to falsifying information. Comey, a longtime subject of criticism from President Trump, was interviewed in May by the Secret Service, after he posted on social media, and then took down, an image of seashells he saw on a beach spelling out '8647.' Trump officials have argued the message was a coded threat calling for someone to '86,' or eliminate, Trump, the 47th president.
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The Independent
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Former FBI and CIA directors under investigation by Trump's Justice Department
The FBI has reportedly launched criminal investigations into former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey after a referral from current CIA chief John Ratcliffe. While the full nature of the alleged investigations are unclear, a source told CNN the probe concerned the potential of false statements to Congress. Sources told Fox News the FBI believed the pair of Obama-era officials had engaged in an unspecified 'conspiracy.' 'I am clueless about what it is exactly that they may be investigating me for,' Brennan said Wednesday on MSNBC, where he is a contributor, adding that he hadn't been contacted by the FBI, DOJ, or CIA. The Justice Department told CNN it does not comment on ongoing investigations. The Independent has contacted the CIA and a representative of Comey for comment. President Donald Trump was asked Wednesday about Comey and Brennan reportedly being under criminal investigation related to the Trump–Russia probe. "Well, I know nothing about it other than what I read today," Trump said. "But I will tell you, I think they're very dishonest people. I think they're crooked as hell. And, maybe they have to pay a price for that." "I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people," the president added. "So whatever happens, happens." The reported investigation comes less than a week after the CIA publicly released a June memo to Ratcliffe, which criticized intelligence officials' handling of allegations in late 2016 that Russia aspired to assist the first Trump presidential campaign. The CIA review, which delved into the creation of a December 2016 intelligence community assessment on the Russia allegations, accused Brennan of pushing to include information from a Democrat-funded dossier in the assessment, even though the CIA official later testified in Congress he did not want the information included. Information from the dossier was ultimately included in an annex to the assessment, which noted its claims only had 'limited corroboration' and were not used in the review's ultimate analytic conclusions. The partially redacted CIA review does not mention Comey in any of its public portions, though Ratcliffe suggested the memo concerned him as well. The current CIA director wrote in a July 2 post on X that the document showed Brennan, Comey, and others had 'manipulated intelligence and silenced career professionals — all to get Trump.' The handling of the Russia allegations, which eventually prompted an FBI investigation into the Trump campaign, have already been subject to numerous reviews. The Justice Department's inspector general concluded in 2019 that FBI officials had sufficient reason to open an investigation into potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia and had acted without bias, though it noted major errors in the process, including around an application to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser. A special counsel appointed during Trump's first term found no wrongdoing in the handling of intelligence about potential Russia links, though it ended in the indictment of three people, including a former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to falsifying information. Comey, a longtime subject of criticism from President Trump, was interviewed in May by the Secret Service, after he posted on social media, and then took down, an image of seashells he saw on a beach spelling out '8647.' Trump officials have argued the message was a coded threat calling for someone to '86,' or eliminate, Trump, the 47th president.
Fox News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Former CIA Director John Brennan 'clueless' about why FBI would investigate him
Former CIA Director John Brennan told MSNBC on Wednesday that he was "clueless" as to what the FBI could be investigating him for after Fox News Digital reported he could be prosecuted for alleged wrongdoing in the Trump-Russia collusion probe. Justice Department sources told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that current CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred evidence of wrongdoing to FBI Director Kash Patel for potential prosecution, citing Brennan's handling of the 2017 Russia collusion investigation as an example. An investigation into former FBI Director James Comey is also said to be underway. Brennan told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline: White House" that he had already testified in front of several congressional committees regarding his decisions on the investigation and stood by his work. "I think that the people who actually worked this, both in terms of trying to collect intelligence prior to the election and then the ones who put together the intelligence assessment, they really, I think, showed the best of what the intelligence community and what CIA is made of," Brennan said. "So again, I am clueless about what it is exactly that they may be investigating me for." He added that he had not been contacted by the DOJ on the matter. "So I don't know whether or not there's any validity to it," Brennan said. "If there was, it was a referral. If there is an investigation, presumably if there is an investigation, then people will be questioned. I would be questioned about it. But again, I've had no contact from them." The Brennan investigation comes after Ratcliffe last week declassified a "lessons learned" review of the creation of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). The 2017 ICA alleged Russia sought to influence the 2016 presidential election to help then-candidate Donald Trump. But the review found that the process of the ICA's creation was rushed with "procedural anomalies," and that officials diverted from intelligence standards. It also determined that the decision to include the Steele dossier, a now-widely discredited anti-Trump document, "ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment." Records declassified as part of that review further revealed that Brennan did, in fact, push for the dossier to be included in the 2017 ICA. Brennan testified to the House Judiciary Committee in May 2023, however, that he did not believe the dossier should be included in that intelligence product.
Fox News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
White House wants Obama intel officials 'held accountable' for role peddling 2016 Russia hoax
Intelligence agency officials like former CIA Director John Brennan must be held accountable for their role in advancing allegations about President Donald Trump's connections with Russia during the 2016 election, according to the White House. "President Trump was right — again," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Those who engaged in this political scandal must be held accountable for the fraud they committed against President Trump and the lies they told to the American people." Leavitt's comments come after a new lessons-learned review that CIA Director John Ratcliffe declassified Wednesday determined that the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency's Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) examining Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election deviated from intelligence standards that led to some "procedural anomalies." The review determined that the "decision by agency heads to include the Steele Dossier in the ICA ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment." The "Steele dossier," composed by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele as part of opposition research on Trump during the 2016 campaign, featured salacious material and unfounded allegations about Trump's connections to Russia. Trump has denied the allegations included in the document. Specifically, the CIA's new review found that the CIA's deputy director for analysis said in a December 2016 email to Brennan that including the dossier in any capacity jeopardized "the credibility of the entire paper." "Despite these objections, Brennan showed a preference for narrative consistency over analytical soundness," the new review stated. "When confronted with specific flaws in the Dossier by the two mission center leaders – one with extensive operational experience and the other with a strong analytic background – he appeared more swayed by the Dossier's general conformity with existing theories than by legitimate tradecraft concerns. Brennan ultimately formalized his position in writing, stating that 'my bottomline is that I believe that the information warrants inclusion in the report.'" Brennan served as director of the CIA from March 2013 to January 2017 under the Obama administration. Brennan could not be reached for comment by Fox News Digital. Likewise, the review said Brennan had sent a note to intelligence community analysts one day before their only session coordinating on the ICA that he had met with then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-FBI Director James Comey. In that message, Brennan told the CIA workforce that "there is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature, and intent of Russian interference in our recent Presidential election."
