Former CIA Director John Brennan sues Trump admin to preserve DOJ records in 2016 US election Russia interference probe
CIA Director John Brennan has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking to preserve Justice Department records linked to ongoing federal investigations into his
CIA Director John Brennan has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking to preserve Justice Department records linked to ongoing federal investigations into his role in the US intelligence assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington on Wednesday, comes before any criminal charges have been filed against Brennan. His legal team argues that preserving internal government communications is essential if he is later indicted, saying the records could help demonstrate that any prosecution was politically motivated. The inquiry is also part of a broader Justice Department investigation examining whether former intelligence and law enforcement officials conspired to undermine Trump during and after the Russia investigation. Trump has repeatedly dismissed the Russia investigation as the "Russia Hoax" and has called for criminal investigations into officials involved. Brennan has denied any wrongdoing and says the investigations are politically driven.
What does Brennan's lawsuit seek? Rather than asking the court to halt the investigations, Brennan is requesting an order requiring the Justice Department to preserve emails, text messages, internal memoranda, calendar entries and other communications related to the probes. His lawyers argue these materials may later be needed to challenge any indictment as unconstitutional. "Given these strong indicia of vindictiveness, Director Brennan expects that he will forcefully challenge any eventual indictment as the product of an unconstitutionally vindictive and selective prosecution," the lawsuit states. The complaint also seeks preservation of communications involving Trump, White House officials and Justice Department personnel connected to the investigations. Why does Brennan believe the records are at risk? The lawsuit argues that important government communications could disappear because of alleged failures to comply with federal record-keeping requirements and the administration's use of encrypted messaging platforms such as Signal.
"Given the government's questionable recent history with respect to its record preservation and other legal obligations... Director Brennan has a well-founded concern that those records and communications will not be preserved until such time as the court can review them for evidence of unconstitutional vindictiveness," Brennan's lawyers wrote. How would the records help Brennan? According to the lawsuit, internal communications could reveal whether prosecutors were acting independently or responding to political pressure. "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 says. Brennan's legal team argues that Trump has publicly criticized him more than 100 times since 2017 and has repeatedly urged the Justice Department to investigate him, which they say supports claims of selective prosecution.
The BriefWire