The FBI announced an investigation into its former director and the former director of the CIA

The United States Department of Justice has opened criminal investigations into former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey for irregularities committed during the investigation into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

According to DOJ sources cited by the news network Fox News, the investigations focus, among other aspects, on false statements before Congress and a possible conspiracy to manipulate the legal process for political purposes.

The case against Brennan arises after the current CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, submitted evidence of alleged criminal conduct to FBI Director Kash Patel. In particular, the investigation targets Brennan's involvement in the drafting of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), which indicated that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump.

A recently declassified report reveals that the drafting of the ICA was marked by "procedural anomalies" that deviated from intelligence standards, and that the inclusion of the so-called "Steele dossier," a document commissioned by Hillary Clinton's campaign and filled with unverified claims about Trump, was pushed by Brennan despite internal objections.

The Steele dossier, prepared by former British spy Christopher Steele and funded by the Democratic Party and Clinton's campaign through the law firm Perkins Coie, was heavily criticized for lacking veracity and for having been used as the basis to obtain surveillance (FISA) orders against former Trump adviser Carter Page.

Brennan, however, promoted its inclusion in the ICA, which was documented by his own notes and internal emails. This contradicts his testimony before Congress in May 2023, where he claimed that the CIA opposed including any reference to the dossier.

The review report highlights that Brennan favored "narrative consistency" over analytical soundness, ignoring warnings from senior CIA officials who warned about the dossier's lack of credibility. This behavior, according to the DOJ, could constitute a violation of public trust.

In Comey's case, although the specific details of the investigation have not yet been revealed, sources from the Department of Justice assure that he is under scrutiny. Both cases could be framed as a conspiracy, opening the possibility of broader charges.

The background of the scandal dates back to July 2016, when Brennan informed then-President Barack Obama and other senior officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and Director of Intelligence James Clapper, about a strategy by Clinton's campaign to link Trump to Russia with the aim of diverting attention from her email scandal.

Soon after that meeting, the FBI formally launched the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, focused on the possibility that Trump's campaign had collaborated with Russia to influence the election. The investigation was later handed over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who in 2019 concluded that there was no evidence of criminal conspiracy between Trump's team and Russia.

Meanwhile, Prosecutor John Durham was appointed to investigate the origin of Crossfire Hurricane. His report, published in 2023, concluded that the FBI "failed to act" in the face of clear signs that it was being manipulated by a strategy from Clinton's campaign. Durham noted that the FBI ignored warnings about the politicization of intelligence and should have analyzed the information with greater skepticism.

Additionally, declassified documents indicate that Brennan himself noted in his records a conversation with Obama where the "Clinton plan" to link Trump to Russia was discussed. This information was later transmitted to the FBI as part of a counterintelligence operational "lead."

The White House, meanwhile, has backed the investigations. Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated that "President Trump was right" and that "those responsible for this political manipulation must be held accountable for the fraud committed against the American people."