House Judiciary Committee Refers John Brennan to DOJ

On Tuesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, sent a referral to the Department of Justice concerning former CIA Director John Brennan. This referral stems from allegations that Brennan made false statements to Congress.

Jordan’s letter asserts that the CIA did not use the Steele dossier while crafting the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian election interference and that Brennan misrepresented facts about the agency’s stance on the dossier’s inclusion during his 2023 testimony.

For context, the Steele dossier comprises reports detailing alleged connections between then-President Donald Trump and Russia. Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele compiled it and shared it with the FBI back in 2016.

Jordan’s letter claims that an investigation confirmed that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, through law firm Perkins Coie and opposition research firm Fusion GPS, paid Steele to produce damaging information about Trump’s alleged Russian ties, questioning the dossier’s credibility.

In July 2025, documents released by the Trump administration indicated that Brennan had authorized the inclusion of these details despite objections from senior CIA officials.

Adding to the controversy, during a May 2023 interview, Brennan stated, “The CIA had no involvement whatsoever in the [Steele] document.” However, declassified materials suggest that the decision to integrate information from the dossier into the ICA was made collectively by the CIA and FBI directors.

Jordan pointed out in his letter that Brennan’s claim of no CIA involvement contradicts the facts, noting that the CIA drafted a summary annexing parts of the dossier. Furthermore, it was Brennan, alongside then-FBI Director James Comey, who ultimately decided to use the dossier’s content in the ICA, overriding senior CIA officials who were against its release.

Even though the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution has lapsed, Jordan accused Brennan of lying during a 2017 hearing before the House Intelligence Committee. He characterized this as part of a pattern in which Brennan purportedly misled Congress regarding the Steele dossier.

Jordan emphasized the discrepancies between Brennan’s previous testimonies and the established facts surrounding the dossier’s use in official assessments. He described Brennan’s testimony in May 2023 as a deliberate attempt to misrepresent crucial details.

This story is ongoing, and updates will be provided as more information becomes available.