The House Intelligence Committee voted this week to transmit classified documents tied to former CIA Director John Brennan to federal prosecutors, a move that signals the Justice Department may be building toward criminal charges.
The committee’s decision came after a months-long review of Brennan’s handling of classified intelligence during the Obama administration. The documents are now in prosecutors’ hands, a significant escalation that raises the prospect of a formal criminal referral against the former spy chief.
“The House Intelligence Committee voted to provide classified records to federal prosecutors,” The Washington Times reported Wednesday, noting the move “rais[es] the specter of charges.”
Brennan, who led the CIA from 2013 to 2017, has faced years of scrutiny over his role in the Russia collusion investigation that consumed the early years of the Trump administration. Critics have long alleged that Brennan used his position to push intelligence assessments that fed the narrative that Trump had colluded with Russia, a claim the Mueller investigation ultimately failed to substantiate.
Brennan had his security clearance revoked by Trump in 2018. Trump cited Brennan’s “erratic conduct and behavior” and what he called a pattern of making “a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations — wild outbursts on the internet and television.”
The transmission of classified materials to DOJ prosecutors is not routine. Congressional committees typically work through formal referral processes before handing sensitive documents to the executive branch for potential prosecution. The fact that the committee voted to move the documents suggests members believe the evidence warrants serious scrutiny by career prosecutors.
In October, the House Judiciary Committee referred former CIA Director John Brennan to the Department of Justice after he made false statements during his interview before the Committee in 2023.
