John Brennan, who served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2013 to 2017, has initiated legal action against the Department of Justice over two ongoing criminal investigations into his activities. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, characterizes the probes as vindictive prosecution stemming from longstanding political tensions.
The 46-page filing requests that U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb prevent the Justice Department, FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida from destroying internal documents relevant to the investigations. Brennan’s legal team argues that the investigations track what they describe as phantom criminal conduct.
The first investigation centers on allegations of a conspiracy involving Brennan and other officials from previous administrations. According to the lawsuit, prosecutors are examining claims that these officials orchestrated investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election as a means to deny civil rights. The second probe stems from an October 21, 2025, criminal referral submitted by Ohio Representative Jim Jordan in his capacity as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. This referral alleges that Brennan made false statements during a 2023 committee interview regarding the January 6, 2017, Intelligence Community Assessment, which concluded that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election.
Court documents indicate that the Justice Department began approaching federal grand juries in the Southern District of Florida in November 2025 and January 2026 concerning these investigations. Two sets of grand jury subpoenas were subsequently obtained. On April 18, 2026, a federal grand jury in Washington issued additional subpoenas to intelligence community members who worked on the Intelligence Community Assessment, though these were later withdrawn in favor of requesting voluntary interviews.
Brennan’s lawsuit asserts that the Justice Department has violated established prosecutorial norms and potentially infringed upon his civil rights. These alleged violations, according to the filing, would provide grounds to challenge any resulting charges and support a motion to dismiss any indictment as the product of selective and vindictive prosecution.
The former CIA director’s legal team has requested a preliminary injunction to preserve all communications and materials potentially relevant to the investigations. The lawsuit expresses concern about the possibility that relevant internal documents could be deleted.
The filing references other similar cases, including the situation involving former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. It specifically cites Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s observation when quashing subpoenas against Powell and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors about the risks associated with being perceived as a political adversary.
Brennan led the CIA during the final years of the Obama administration before being replaced by Mike Pompeo shortly after the start of the subsequent administration in 2017. During his tenure, Brennan was involved in establishing the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into the 2016 campaign’s potential connections with the Russian government.
The lawsuit also mentions a related case involving former FBI Director James Comey, who recently had an initial indictment dismissed in the Eastern District of Virginia in November. That dismissal came after arguments that then-interim U.S. Attorney Lindsay Halligan was illegally appointed. A new criminal case has since been filed against Comey in the Eastern District of North Carolina concerning an image posted online of seashells arranged in specific numbers.
The Justice Department has not provided public comment on Brennan’s lawsuit or the ongoing investigations at this time.
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