FBI launches criminal investigations of John Brennan, James Comey: DOJ sources

FBI launches criminal probe into Brennan, Comey

Former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are below prison investigation for potential wrongdoing associated to the Trump–Russia probe, Justice Division sources advised Fox Information Digital.

Former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are below prison investigation for potential wrongdoing associated to the Trump–Russia probe, together with allegedly making false statements to Congress, Justice Division sources advised Fox Information Digital.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred proof of wrongdoing by Brennan to FBI Director Kash Patel for potential prosecution, DOJ sources advised Fox Information Digital.

The sources mentioned that the referral was acquired and advised Fox Information Digital {that a} prison investigation into Brennan was opened and is underway. DOJ sources declined to supply additional particulars. It’s unclear, at this level, if the investigation spans past his alleged false statements to Congress.

As for Comey, DOJ sources advised Fox Information Digital that an investigation into the previous director is underway, however couldn’t share particulars of what particularly is being probed.

EX-OBAMA INTEL BOSS WANTED ANTI-TRUMP DOSSIER INCLUDED IN ‘ATYPICAL’ 2016 ASSESSMENT DESPITE PUSHBACK

FILE – Aspect-by-side picture of former CIA Dir. John Brennan and former FBI Dir. James Comey. (Getty Pictures) 

The complete scope of the prison investigations into Brennan and Comey is unclear, however two sources described the FBI’s view of the duo’s interactions as a “conspiracy,” which may open up a variety of potential prosecutorial choices. 

The FBI and CIA declined to remark.

Neither Brennan nor Comey instantly responded to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.

The Brennan investigation comes after Ratcliffe final week declassified a “classes realized” evaluation of the creation of the 2017 Intelligence Neighborhood Evaluation (ICA). The 2017 ICA alleged Russia sought to affect the 2016 presidential election to assist then-candidate Donald Trump. However the evaluation discovered that the method of the ICA’s creation was rushed with “procedural anomalies,” and that officers diverted from intelligence requirements. 

WHITE HOUSE WANTS OBAMA INTEL OFFICIALS ‘HELD ACCOUNTABLE’ FOR ROLE PEDDLING 2016 RUSSIA HOAX

FILE – FBI Director Kash Patel throughout his affirmation listening to in January 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Pictures)

It additionally decided that the “choice by company heads to incorporate the Steele File within the ICA ran counter to basic tradecraft ideas and finally undermined the credibility of a key judgment.” 

The file — an anti-Trump doc stuffed with unverified and wholly inaccurate claims that was commissioned by Fusion GPS and paid for by Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s marketing campaign and the DNC — has been extensively discredited. Final week’s evaluation marks the primary time profession CIA officers have acknowledged politicization of the method by which the ICA was written, notably by Obama-era political appointees. 

Data declassified as a part of that evaluation additional revealed that Brennan did, in actual fact, push for the file to be included within the 2017 ICA.

Brennan testified to the Home Judiciary Committee in Might 2023, nonetheless, that he didn’t imagine the file needs to be included in that intelligence product.

COMEY SAYS MCCABE LIED, CONFIRMS HE KICK-STARTED PROBE THAT LED TO HIS FIRING

CIA Director John Ratcliffe throughout his affirmation listening to on the Senate Intelligence Committee on January 15, 2025, in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures)

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Ratcliffe was not stunned by the evaluation’s findings, a supply acquainted advised Fox Information Digital, given the director’s lengthy historical past of criticizing Brennan’s politicization of intelligence. However Ratcliffe was compelled to refer features of Brennan’s involvement to the FBI for evaluation of doable criminality, the supply mentioned.

The supply was unable to share the delicate particulars of Ratcliffe’s prison referral to the FBI with Fox Information Digital, however mentioned that Brennan “violated the general public’s belief and needs to be held accountable for it.”

The false statements portion of the probe stems from a newly declassified e-mail despatched to Brennan by the previous deputy CIA director in December 2016. That message mentioned that together with the file within the ICA in any capability jeopardized “the credibility of the whole paper.”

FISA REPORT DROPS: 7 TAKEAWAYS FROM DOJ WATCHDOG’S REVIEW OF RUSSIA PROBE

“Regardless of these objections, Brennan confirmed a choice for narrative consistency over analytical soundness,” the brand new CIA evaluation states. “When confronted with particular flaws within the File by the 2 mission middle leaders – one with in depth operational expertise and the opposite with a robust analytic background – he appeared extra swayed by the File’s normal conformity with present theories than by reliable tradecraft issues.”

The evaluation added: “Brennan finally formalized his place in writing, stating that ‘my bottomline is that I imagine that the data warrants inclusion within the report.’”

However Brennan testified the alternative in entrance of Congress in Might 2023.

“The CIA was very a lot against having any reference or inclusion of the Steele file within the Intelligence Neighborhood Evaluation,” Brennan testified earlier than the Home committee, in line with the transcript of his deposition reviewed by Fox Information Digital. “And they also despatched over a duplicate of the file to say that this was going to be separate from the remainder of that evaluation.”

FLASHBACK: NEWLY DECLASSIFIED INTEL DOCUMENT NOTED STEELE DOSSIER CLAIMS HAD ‘LIMITED CORROBORATION’

Former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Company (CIA) John Brennan testifies earlier than the Home Everlasting Choose Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill, Might 23, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Pictures)

CIA officers on the time of its creation pushed again towards the FBI, which sought to incorporate the file, arguing that the file shouldn’t be included within the evaluation, and casting it as merely “web rumor.” 

Finally, Steele’s reporting was not included within the physique of the ultimate ICA ready for then-President Barack Obama, however as an alternative detailed on this footnote, “largely on the insistence of FBI’s senior management,” in line with a evaluation by the Justice Division inspector normal, and later, the Senate Intelligence Committee.

However again in June 2020, Ratcliffe, whereas serving as director of nationwide intelligence, declassified a footnote of the 2017 ICA, which revealed that the reporting of Trump file writer Christopher Steele had solely “restricted corroboration” relating to whether or not then-President-elect Trump “knowingly labored with Russian officers to bolster his probabilities of beating” Hillary Clinton and different claims.

FLASHBACK: DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON ‘STIRRING UP’ SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA

The footnote, often known as “Annex A” of the 2017 ICA, completely obtained by Fox Information Digital in June 2020, spanned lower than two pages and detailed reporting by Steele, the previous British spy who authored the unverified anti-Trump file — a doc that helped serve as the premise for controversial International Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants obtained towards former Trump marketing campaign aide Carter Web page.

Steele’s reporting, on the time, was commissioned by opposition analysis agency Fusion GPS and funded by the Clinton marketing campaign and the Democratic Nationwide Committee (DNC) by legislation agency Perkins Coie.

The footnote made clear the inner issues officers had over that doc.

Ex-British spy Christopher Steele. ( Tolga Akmen/AFP through Getty Pictures)

“An FBI supply (Steele) utilizing each recognized and unidentified subsources, volunteered extremely politically delicate data from the summer time to the autumn of 2016 on Russian affect efforts aimed on the US presidential election,” the annex learn. “We’ve got solely restricted corroboration of the supply’s reporting on this case and didn’t use it to achieve the analytic conclusions of the CIA/FBI/NSA evaluation.”

“The supply collected this data on behalf of personal purchasers and was not compensated for it by the FBI,” it continued.

However the annex notes that Steele’s reporting was “not developed by the layered subsource community.”

“The FBI supply caveated that, though just like beforehand offered reporting by way of content material, the supply was unable to vouch for the extra data’s sourcing and accuracy,” the annex states. “Therefore this data just isn’t included on this product.”

FBI IGNORED ‘CLEAR WARNING SIGN’ OF CLINTON-LED EFFORT TO ‘MANIPULATE’ BUREAU FOR ‘POLITICAL PURPOSES’

Justice Division Inspector Normal Michael Horowitz additionally reviewed the inclusion of Steele’s reporting within the ICA throughout his evaluation of alleged misconduct associated to the International Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.

His report, launched in late 2019, discovered that there have been “important inaccuracies and omissions” in FISA warrants for former Trump marketing campaign aide Web page. These warrants relied closely on Steele’s reporting, regardless of the FBI not having had particular data corroborating allegations towards Web page that had been included in Steele’s reporting.

In the meantime, Fox Information Digital completely reported in October 2020 that Brennan briefed former President Obama and administration officers on intelligence that then-Democrat nominee former Secretary of State Clinton was stirring up a plan to tie Trump to Russia.

Ratcliffe, as director of nationwide intelligence, declassified Brennan’s handwritten notes memorializing that assembly, which had been completely obtained by Fox Information Digital in October 2020.

Then-Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks as then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump listens in the course of the city corridor debate at Washington College on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. (Rick Wi

On July 28, 2016, Brennan briefed Obama on a plan from one in every of Clinton’s marketing campaign international coverage advisors “to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian safety service.” 

Comey, then-Vice President Joe Biden, former Lawyer Normal Loretta Lynch and former Director of Nationwide Intelligence James Clapper had been within the Brennan-Obama briefing.

FLASHBACK: DECLASSIFIED TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE DOCS TO DATE: WHAT TO KNOW 

After that briefing, the CIA correctly forwarded that data by a Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, with the topic line: “Crossfire Hurricane.”

Fox Information Digital completely obtained and reported on the CIOL in October 2020, which acknowledged: “The next data is offered for the unique use of your bureau for background investigative motion or lead functions as acceptable.”

“Per FBI verbal request, CIA gives the under examples of data the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned up to now,” the memo continued. “An trade (REDACTED) discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan regarding US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a way of distracting the general public from her use of a non-public e-mail server.”

The FBI on July 31, 2016, opened a counterintelligence investigation into whether or not candidate Trump and members of his marketing campaign had been colluding or coordinating with Russia to affect the 2016 marketing campaign. That investigation was referred to contained in the bureau as “Crossfire Hurricane.”

Former Particular Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to take over the FBI’s unique “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation. After almost two years, Mueller’s investigation, which concluded in March 2019, yielded no proof of prison conspiracy or coordination between the Trump marketing campaign and Russian officers in the course of the 2016 presidential election.

Shortly after, John Durham was appointed as particular counsel to analyze the origins of the “Crossfire Hurricane” probe.

Durham discovered that the FBI “didn’t act” on a “clear warning signal” that the bureau was the “goal” of a Clinton-led effort to “manipulate or affect the legislation enforcement course of for political functions” forward of the 2016 presidential election.

“The aforementioned info replicate a somewhat startling and inexplicable failure to adequately take into account and incorporate the Clinton Plan intelligence into the FBI’s investigative decision-making within the Crossfire Hurricane investigation,” Durham’s report states.

Particular Counsel John Durham indicated the Division of Justice and FBI “didn’t uphold their mission of strict constancy to the legislation” when it launched the Trump-Russia investigation. (Ron Sachs/Consolidated Information Footage/Getty Pictures)

“Certainly, had the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation as an evaluation and, in flip, gathered and analyzed information in live performance with the data from the Clinton Plan intelligence, it’s seemingly that the data acquired would have been examined, at a minimal, with a extra essential eye,” the report continued.

Durham, in his report, mentioned the FBI “didn’t act on what ought to have been—when mixed with different incontrovertible info— a transparent warning signal that the FBI may then be the goal of an effort to control or affect the legislation enforcement course of for political functions in the course of the 2016 presidential election.”

In the meantime, the White Home needs the Obama-era intelligence officers to be held accountable. 

“President Trump was proper — once more,” White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned in an announcement to Fox Information Digital. “Those that engaged on this political scandal should be held accountable for the fraud they dedicated towards President Trump and the lies they advised to the American individuals.”

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