The FBI began interviews last week with about a dozen current and former CIA officials at CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia, focusing on ex-CIA Director John Brennan’s involvement in the 2017 intelligence assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election [1].
Agents from the Miami field office are examining whether Brennan made false statements to Congress in 2023 about the CIA’s role in the assessment and the influence of the Steele dossier on its conclusions [1, 2]. Brennan testified before Congress that the CIA was not involved with the dossier, but House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan disputed this, citing a CIA memorandum that said Brennan ignored internal agency concerns and seemed swayed by the dossier’s alignment with existing theories [2]. Jordan referred Brennan to the Justice Department last year for potentially lying to Congress about this matter [2].
The 2017 report concluded that Russia aimed to boost Donald Trump’s candidacy in the 2016 election. Its core findings were upheld by bipartisan Senate and DOJ reviews [1, 2]. The Steele dossier was briefly attached as a classified summary to the assessment despite opposition from some within the CIA, according to Brennan [1, 2].
Former President Trump has called the Russia investigation a “hoax” and pushed prosecutors to investigate those involved, including Brennan [1, 2].
The FBI interviews represent a DOJ probe into the integrity of the intelligence process and Brennan’s Congressional testimony. The questioning of CIA officials is ongoing.
