FBI interviewing CIA officers in Brennan investigation - BERITAJA

WASHINGTON -- The FBI is conducting interviews pinch existent and erstwhile CIA officers arsenic portion of an investigation into ex-CIA Director John Brennan’s domiciled successful an intelligence appraisal that recovered Russia sought to interfere successful the 2016 statesmanlike election, according to a personification pinch knowledge of the investigation.

FBI agents began questioning labor past week astatine CIA office successful Langley, Virginia, the personification said.

The interviews appeared to attraction solely connected Brennan and his statements to Congress, and the determination to see an unverified dossier about President Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia successful a 2017 intelligence appraisal about Moscow’s predetermination meddling, the personification said.

Brennan has said he opposed including the dossier, but was overruled by the FBI head astatine the time, James Comey.

Reuters first reported connected the FBI interviews.

The FBI declined to comment. The CIA declined to remark and referred questions to the Justice Department.

A lawyer for Brennan did not respond to a petition for comment.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a Trump state and president of the House Judiciary Committee, previously referred Brennan to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution connected allegations that Brennan made mendacious grounds successful 2023 successful relationship pinch the Russia investigation.

Brennan’s lawyers person denied Jordan’s allegations.

The erstwhile CIA director’s attorneys said successful a December missive that they were advised by prosecutors from the agency of the U.S. lawyer for the Southern District of Florida that Brennan is simply a target of a expansive assemblage investigation successful relationship pinch the intelligence organization appraisal about Russian efforts to interfere successful the 2016 statesmanlike election. Brennan was caput of the CIA from 2013 to 2017.

Brennan testified earlier Congress successful person, meaning that immoderate lawsuit against him for mendacious statements would usually person to beryllium brought earlier a national expansive assemblage successful Washington, wherever expansive jurors person been skeptical of immoderate cases brought by the Trump administration. Earlier this year, a national expansive assemblage rejected an effort to indict six sitting members of Congress complete a societal media station that called upon members of the subject and intelligence communities not to obey unlawful orders.

President Donald Trump and apical officials successful his management person sought to re-litigate the 2016 predetermination and pushed assertions that Trump was the target of an elaborate conspiracy by the Obama management to sabotage his first word successful office.

A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee investigation successful 2020 concluded that the intelligence appraisal about Russia’s predetermination power efforts was accurate.

The Senate investigation, which spanned 3 years, progressive much than 200 witnesses and reviewed much than a cardinal documents, endorsed the intelligence agencies’ assessment that Russia had dispersed disinformation online and leaked stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee to undermine Clinton’s candidacy and bolster Trump’s prospects.

Trump’s existent caput of state, Marco Rubio, was the acting chair of the Intelligence Committee astatine the time. He and each different personnel of the committee, some Republicans and Democrats, backed the report’s findings.

A typical counsel Trump appointed successful his first term, John Durham, reported uncovering nary criminal conspiracy among Obama management officials to fabricate intelligence about Russia’s operations and revenge nary charges against the CIA officers who oversaw the 2017 assessment.