Investigators reviewing the origins of the Russia probe are reportedly looking into the CIA’s actions when John Brennan served as its director.
Politico, citing anonymous sources, reported that Attorney General William Barr and federal prosecutor John Durham are investigating a “conspiracy theory” that a professor linked to the Russia probe was a Western intelligence asset attempting to undermine President Trump’s campaign and that the CIA was involved somehow.
A spokesman for Durham declined to comment on the characterization or whether Brennan would be interviewed in the investigation.
{mosads}The former CIA director recently told NBC News that Durham plans to interview several current and former intelligence officials including Brennan and former director of national intelligence James Clapper.
Politico also reported that the investigation is focused on the CIA and intelligence community’s work with the FBI on the Russia investigation.
Brennan led the CIA between 2013 and 2017 under former President Barack Obama. His spokesman, Nick Shapiro, told Politico that the agency had been focused on “Russia’s interference in the election and the role that Russian officials played.”
“In our government, the FBI is who conducts counterintelligence investigations on U.S. citizens. What Barr and Trump are reportedly up to not only doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, but it is yet another dangerous abuse of power, something that seems to now happen on a daily basis in this administration,” he said.
A former White House official told Politico that Trump is “obsessed” with Brennan, who frequently criticizes the president.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley, however, told the news outlet that “the only way I’ve ever heard anyone in the White House mention him is as a punchline.”
Former special counsel Robert Mueller spent 22 months investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. While six former Trump associates and more than two dozen Russian nationals and entities were indicted, Mueller in his final report did not explicitly allege the president committed a crime, and did not uncover evidence that the Trump campaign illegally conspired with the Kremlin.
Critics of the current Justice Department review say that it is an effort to undermine the intelligence community’s findings of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The New York Times recently reported that about two dozen people have been interviewed, suggesting the probe is further along than previously known.