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Former CIA director John Brennan was reportedly interviewed by U.S. Attorney John Durham but was told he is not a “target” in the ongoing criminal investigation.
A spokesman for Brennan revealed that the former Obama administration intelligence chief had an eight-hour interview Friday with Durham who was appointed last year by Attorney General William Barr to investigate the origins of the Russia probe. Apparently giving Brennan’s spin on the interview ahead of Durham’s report, his spokesman issued a statement on the meeting.
“Brennan was informed by Mr. Durham that he is not a subject or a target of a criminal investigation and that he is only a witness to events that are under review,” Brennan spokesman Nick Shapiro said, adding that the interview took place at CIA headquarters.
Just in: John Brennan’s spokesman says Brennan was interviewed earlier today by John Durham, who told Brennan “that he is not a subject or a target of a criminal investigation and that he is only a witness to events that are under review.” Full statement: pic.twitter.com/tgYXpvdkIN
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) August 22, 2020
Brennan, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, has been considered a “witness” to events related to the 2016 Obama administration probe of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. As CIA chief, Brennan and other intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had helped Trump by interfering in the 2016 election.
He reportedly “welcomed the opportunity” to answer Durham’s questions on “a wide range of intelligence-related activities undertaken by CIA before the November 2016 presidential election as well as the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) published in early Jan 2017,” Brennan’s former deputy chief of staff said.
“Brennan provided details on the efforts made by the Intelligence Community to understand and disrupt the actions taken by Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election,” Shapiro added.
Brennan provided details on the efforts made by the Intelligence Community to understand and disrupt the actions taken by Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. 4/8
— Nick Shapiro (@nick_shapiro) August 22, 2020
Shapiro’s statement noted that Brennan “expressed appreciation for the professional manner in which Mr. Durham and his team conducted the interview,” but went on to question why the Justice Department was scrutinizing the CIA’s findings.
Brennan questioned why the analytic tradecraft and the findings of the ICA are being scrutinized by the Department of Justice, especially since they have been validated by the Mueller Report as well as the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Review. 6/8
— Nick Shapiro (@nick_shapiro) August 22, 2020
Brennan also apparently trashed the Trump administration, calling out the president and attorney general for their “appalling” efforts to “politicize” Durham’s work which brought its first criminal charge against former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith who pleaded guilty this week to making a false statement.
“Brennan also told Mr. Durham that the repeated efforts of Donald Trump and William Barr to politicize Mr. Durham’s work have been appalling and have tarnished the independence and integrity of the Department of Justice, making it very difficult for Department of Justice professionals to carry out their responsibilities,” Shapiro said.
It is Brennan’s fervent hope that the results of the Durham review will be apolitical and not influenced by personal or partisan agendas. 8/8
— Nick Shapiro (@nick_shapiro) August 22, 2020
He added that it’s Brennan’s “fervent hope that the results of the Durham review will be apolitical and not influenced by personal or partisan agendas.”
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Frieda@bizpacreview.com
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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