Lawyers for former CIA Director John Brennan have confirmed that their client is the target of a federal criminal grand jury investigation in Florida and have asked a federal judge to halt the proceedings, arguing that the Justice Department is “judge shopping.”
The disclosure came in a letter sent Monday by defense attorneys Ken Wainstein and Natasha Harnwell Davis to U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga, the chief judge of the Southern District of Florida, Just the News reported.
In the letter, the attorneys said they were informed by U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones that the grand jury is examining Brennan’s actions related to the 2016–2017 investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, including a CIA intelligence assessment that concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to influence the election in favor of Donald Trump.
The lawyers’ filing follows the public release of whistleblower material by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe that raised questions about the preparation of the assessment. The material indicates that some intelligence officials disagreed with aspects of the conclusions and that the report was completed under time constraints at the end of the Obama administration.
The whistleblower disclosures also allege that Brennan advocated for the inclusion of information from the so-called Steele dossier in the assessment, a move that Ratcliffe and Gabbard have said conflicts with Brennan’s prior congressional testimony. Both officials have referred Brennan to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.
“We have been formally advised by prosecutors of the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida that Director Brennan is a target of grand jury investigation NS 1840-020 in the Miami Division (24-06), which is examining the circumstances surrounding the production of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment about Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election in the United States,” Brennan’s lawyers wrote Altonaga.
The manual for U.S. attorneys defines a “target” as someone who is likely to be indicted by a grand jury.
The lawyers argued that the grand jury investigation stems from political pressure by President Donald Trump on Attorney General Pam Bondi to target individuals who previously investigated or criticized him. They also alleged that prosecutors are attempting to steer the case to a particular judge.
According to the filing, the defense contends that the Justice Department is manipulating venue and procedure in an effort to have the case assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. Cannon previously dismissed an indictment against Trump brought by former Special Counsel Jack Smith.
“As explained below, it has become clear that irregular activity is taking place in connection with that grand jury investigation, which is affecting our client’s rights to fair and impartial treatment by the criminal justice system,” the lawyers alleged. “One example is the violation of grand jury secrecy rules, by which information about the investigation is being leaked to the media (see below at pages 15-16).
“Another example of irregular activity – which is even more troubling and potentially harmful to our client’s rights – relates to the government’s apparent effort to manipulate grand jury and case assignment procedures to ensure that this investigation and any resulting prosecution will be overseen by a particular District Judge of its preference,” the letter continued, going on to cite Cannon by name.
The attorneys noted further: “Given the corrosive effect of judge shopping on the perceived fairness and impartiality of the criminal justice system – particularly when conducted by a federal prosecutor – we wish to alert the Court to the evidence underlying our concern.”
The letter represents an unusual move by Brennan’s defense team and underscores the heightened legal stakes surrounding the investigation. The filing comes amid broader political disputes over the use of the justice and intelligence systems.
Democrats have argued that recent investigative actions reflect politically motivated retaliation after Republicans leveled similar accusations against them for making Trump the first former president to be federally indicted.
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