By Steve Neavling
The FBI has opened criminal investigations into former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey, according to a report by Fox News Digital that cites unnamed Justice Department sources.
The reported probes center on alleged misconduct tied to the U.S. government’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The Justice Department and CIA declined to comment, and the FBI would not confirm the investigations. Reuters said it could not independently verify the claims. Neither Brennan nor Comey could immediately be reached for comment.
It’s unclear how far along the investigations are or what potential charges, if any, the former intelligence chiefs could face. A criminal probe does not necessarily result in prosecution. According to Fox News, Brennan was referred for possible charges by President Donald Trump’s CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Comey, who was fired by Trump in 2017 after confirming that the FBI was investigating the Trump campaign, led the bureau when it launched a probe into possible coordination between the campaign and Russia. That investigation was later taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller, who found no criminal conspiracy between Trump’s team and Moscow.
Brennan led the CIA when U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the election. While a recent internal CIA review flagged flaws in how that 2017 assessment was prepared, it upheld the report’s key findings.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised the investigations in an interview with Fox News, saying, “I am glad to see that the Department of Justice is opening up this investigation.”
The report comes amid renewed tension between Trump supporters and federal law enforcement, after officials publicly rejected conspiracy theories about the 2019 death of Jeffrey Epstein.
