Former CIA Director John Brennan could soon be facing charges in two federal investigations out of Florida, according to his lawyers. On Monday, his attorneys asked a federal judge to make an unusual move and order the government to preserve records before Brennan is indicted.
Kenneth Wainstein, one of Brennan’s lawyers, said federal prosecutors are investigating whether he made false statements to Congress and whether he played a key role in conspiring to deprive President Donald Trump of his rights. Wainstein said his team believes the cases are a matter of “imminence” for a judge’s consideration and they are expecting prosecution.
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The lawyers’ request came just hours after they said in filings that Brennan was subpoenaed to testify before a Fort Pierce, Fla. grand jury in the Justice Department’s “grand conspiracy” investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against President Donald Trump.
The case against Brennan
Wainstein says the summons came last Thursday – the same day that Trump loyalist Joseph diGenova quit over a dispute about the pace of his investigation. Sources familiar with the matter told Fox News diGenova had been effectively sidelined by the DOJ and the White House well before then, though.
Wainstein said in a court declaration that Kurt Olsen, a known 2020 election denier and member of the Southern District of Florida’s prosecutorial team, indicated on Friday that “there are multiple ‘viable’ grand jury investigations, including a ‘far-reaching’ investigation in Fort Pierce that includes ‘issues at Mar-a-Lago and beyond’ into whether President Trump had his civil rights violated.” Olsen also said another investigation out of Washington, D.C. is looking into Brennan’s statements before Congress.
Fear No Fact.
John Brennan served as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama from March 2013 to January 2017.
Olsen reportedly also told Brennan’s lawyers he’s still a “target” in the narrower investigation into whether he lied to Congress during testimony about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The DOJ considers a person a “target” when “the prosecutor or the grand jury has substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime.”
Brennan is slated to appear before the grand jury in Fort Pierce on Oct. 15. The DOJ has not yet said who will replace diGenova.
An unusual request
Wainstein and co-counsel Daniel Gelber appeared in a Washington court Monday, asking U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb to order the DOJ to preserve communications related to the case against Brennan. They pointed to the Trump administration’s widespread use of the Signal app for official government communication in their argument for forcing the government to preserve those communications.
“The threat of prosecution remains quite real,” Wainstein said in court.
He said there have been “intentional efforts” by the Justice Department to hide potential misconduct in the case. He called it a “blatantly unconstitutional effort to target an innocent man.”
“The government is not going to disclose what it’s destroying,” Wainstein said. “There’s a lot of really underhanded stuff going on in this investigation.”
Cobb, a Biden appointee, questioned whether an injunction forcing the preservation of records was necessary.
“What is me issuing an injunction going to do to put you in a different position?” she asked, according to the Washington Examiner.
Brennan’s team wants the records preserved to bolster their case if a grand jury does indict him. If that happens, they plan to use the records to argue that the case should be dismissed as vindictive prosecution.
“Maybe we’re asking for something that’s a little unprecedented, but it’s needed due to the conduct of this administration,” Wainstein said.
Wainstein gave specific examples, including Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel discussing the Brennan investigation with Fox News host Sean Hannity. He also argued the administration has sought to conceal records in a separate civil lawsuit.
Round out your reading
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