Former CIA head John Brennan and ex-FBI chief James Comey are now in the hot seat. Feds are digging into how they managed the whole Trump-Russia narrative during the 2016 election.
Justice Department sources say the investigation into Brennan centers on one key question: Did he lie to Congress? Specifically, they’re looking at what he said about the Steele dossier and its impact on the government’s final report on Russian interference.
This all started with the current CIA Director, John Ratcliffe. Apparently, he handed the matter over to the FBI after an internal audit criticized putting claims from the dossier into the official intelligence document in the first place.
Conflicting Statements Emerge
Brennan’s role in the ICA has been the subject of political and legal debate for years. In testimony before Congress in 2017, he claimed the dossier was “not in any way used as a basis” for the assessment. But in a closed-door session with the House Judiciary Committee in 2023, he took a different tone, saying the CIA had objected to including the dossier, which was largely unverified.
“My bottom line is that I believe that the information warrants inclusion in the report,” Brennan wrote in an email recently made public.
The Steele Dossier Controversy
The internal CIA review called the decision to include the dossier a violation of tradecraft principles, suggesting it damaged the credibility of a core assessment judgment.
The Steele dossier was compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and funded through intermediaries connected to the Clinton campaign. It included salacious and unverified claims about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
The New York Post’s Miranda Devine commented that the document failed to meet “even the most basic tradecraft standards.”
Comey Also Under Investigation
James Comey is also under federal investigation, though details remain limited. DOJ insiders describe the focus of the inquiry as part of a broader look into what they view as coordinated actions by senior intelligence officials during the 2016 transition.
The FBI’s role in pushing for the dossier’s inclusion in the intelligence report has come under particular scrutiny. CIA’s internal review noted that FBI leadership was adamant that their agency’s participation in the ICA required references to the Steele dossier.
“FBI leadership made it clear that their participation in the [intelligence community assessment] hinged on the dossier’s inclusion,” the review stated.
The intelligence report was wrapped up in early 2017, just before Trump became president. Brennan, Comey, and the DNI at the time, James Clapper, went public with what they found. The bottom line? They were certain Russia had meddled in the election specifically to help Trump.
New Political Ramifications
Brennan and Comey are back in focus as officials take another look at how the Russia investigations got started—and whether the intelligence behind them held up.
Some Republicans argue that elements of the investigation were driven by bias rather than solid intelligence, while others maintain that political and legal institutions are now trying to correct course.
Justice Department sources say both Brennan and Comey could face further legal exposure depending on the findings of these probes. At the moment, the cases remain open.
