Former CIA Director Referral

The House Judiciary Committee has officially referred ex-CIA Director John Brennan to the Department of Justice. This is due to allegations that he misled Congress regarding his connection to what some call the Russia collusion hoax.

On Tuesday, Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) submitted the referral, accusing Brennan of making “false statements” during his 2023 testimony before the Judiciary Committee. According to Jordan, Brennan intentionally provided numerous misleading claims, including that the CIA played “no involvement whatsoever” in the Steele dossier.

Jordan pointed out, “This shows that Brennan has a tendency to lie.”

He emphasized the importance of truthful testimony for Congress to effectively oversee functions, adding that providing false statements to Congress is a crime that detracts from the integrity of its constitutional duty.

In his letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Jordan recounted what he deems falsehoods told by Brennan during his testimony, stating these contradicted the intelligence community’s assessment.

Back in 2017, several intelligence agencies published a report claiming that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election to help elect President Donald Trump. This report was later discredited, as it relied heavily on the Steele dossier, which was financed by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee through opposition research firms.

Questions arose about Brennan’s testimony after the Trump administration released documents revealing that the claims within the report were manufactured by former President Barack Obama’s administration.

Brennan originally stated in May 2023 that “the CIA was not involved at all.” However, according to Jordan’s letter, this assertion contradicts findings developed jointly by the CIA and the FBI. Jordan also mentioned that Brennan had overridden senior CIA officials who had concerns about including certain material in the report.

The letter noted, “Mr. Brennan’s assertion that the CIA had ‘no involvement’ in the Steele dossier cannot be reconciled with the facts.” Newly declassified documents indicated that CIA officials had created an annex summarizing the dossier, and Brennan, along with then-FBI Director James Comey, decided to include the dossier’s information in the intelligence community assessment.

Brennan also testified that the CIA was “strongly opposed” to incorporating the Steele dossier into the report, contrary to declassified documents that stated the agency “refused to remove” it despite recognizing “many flaws” in it.

In separate testimony from 2017, Brennan asserted that the Steele dossier was “never used as the basis for an intelligence community assessment.” However, this statement has been challenged in light of evidence that surfaced after the Trump administration declassified relevant documents. Although this particular testimony was beyond the five-year statute of limitations, Jordan argued it demonstrates Brennan’s willingness to mislead Congress regarding the Steele dossier.