Former CIA Director John Brennan took legal action Wednesday, filing a lawsuit aimed at compelling the U.S. Justice Department to hold onto records connected to federal investigations that have scrutinized his involvement in a U.S. intelligence community assessment concluding that Russia worked to boost President Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016.
Brennan’s attorneys argued in a filing in Washington federal court that those records and internal communications will be essential if Brennan needs to mount legal challenges against a potential indictment — particularly to support claims that any future prosecution was driven by revenge and initiated at Trump’s direction.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami has been looking into whether Brennan, who headed the CIA during former Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration, made false statements to Congress when discussing the intelligence assessment. Investigators are also examining whether he was part of a broader, long-running criminal conspiracy against Trump’s constitutional rights.
Brennan has publicly described the investigation as politically motivated, and his legal team has accused the Trump administration of using improper tactics during the probe.
Trump has spent years pushing back against any suggestion that his 2016 campaign had ties to Russia, repeatedly calling it the “Russia Hoax” and calling for prosecutions of officials involved in those efforts.
The Justice Department issued a response through a spokesperson, saying: “While we cannot comment on the existence, or lack thereof, of an investigation, it is certainly rich that John Brennan is accusing anyone of a ‘retribution campaign.’”
The lawsuit is also designed to capitalize on an emerging trend in the courts, where judges have shown increasing willingness to step in early during investigations they view as targeting Trump’s critics or political opponents. Courts have already moved to block subpoenas this year in separate probes involving former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Democratic officials in Minnesota.
Brennan’s legal complaint contends that internal DOJ records and communications are at risk of disappearing, pointing to the Trump administration’s use of disappearing-message apps like Signal and alleged failures by officials to follow federal recordkeeping requirements.
His attorneys say those materials would be critical to any future effort to have an indictment thrown out. The suit asks a judge to order the DOJ to preserve a broad range of materials connected to both investigations before any charges are filed.
“A careful examination of the prosecutors’ emails, texts, instant messages, internal memoranda and the like would enable a court to determine whether their decisions were based on legitimate law enforcement concerns or on a desire to selectively and/or vindictively prosecute Director Brennan,” the complaint states.
