House Judiciary Committee Refers John Brennan to DOJ

On Tuesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, suggesting that former CIA Director John Brennan should face investigation by the Department of Justice for allegedly providing misleading statements to Congress.

Jordan argued that Brennan falsely claimed the CIA did not utilize the Steele dossier when preparing the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) concerning Russian interference in the elections. He also asserted that Brennan lied during his 2023 testimony before the Judiciary Committee.

The Steele dossier, a collection of reports alleging connections between President Donald Trump and Russia, was compiled by ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and handed over to the FBI in 2016.

In the letter, Jordan highlighted that investigations revealed the Clinton campaign, along with the Democratic National Committee, funded Steele through Perkins Coie law firm and Fusion GPS for creating defamatory information about Trump’s alleged ties to Russia. This, he noted, called into question the integrity of the documents.

In July 2025, the Trump administration made public documents indicating that Brennan had approved the inclusion of the dossier in the assessment, despite objections from several senior CIA officials.

During an interview on May 11, 2023, Brennan suggested that the CIA had “no involvement” with the dossier, but the declassified documents reveal that the decision to use the dossier’s information was jointly made by the directors of the CIA and FBI.

Jordan emphasized in his letter that Brennan’s claims about the CIA’s lack of engagement with the Steele dossier simply do not align with factual evidence. Newly released documents showed that CIA officials were involved in drafting an annex summarizing the dossier, and Brennan, alongside then-FBI Director James Comey, ultimately decided to incorporate the information into the ICA, overruling senior CIA officials who were against its publication.

Even though the statute of limitations for criminal action had expired, Jordan pointed out that Brennan’s alleged false testimony during a 2017 House Select Committee on Intelligence hearing exhibits a recurring theme of misinformation to Congress regarding the Steele dossier.

Jordan noted, “The report and CIA memorandum verify that the Steele document was indeed foundational for the ICA and that Brennan insisted on including it.” He contrasted this with Brennan’s prior statements to the HPSCI, claiming that the pertinent documents were not utilized in drafting the ICA, accusing Brennan of a deliberate attempt to mislead Congress in his May 11, 2023 testimony.

This situation is still evolving, and updates will be available as they come.