Former CIA Director John Brennan filed suit in federal court Wednesday demanding the Justice Department preserve all records tied to its ongoing criminal investigation into him, calling the probe an act of “unconstitutionally vindictive and selective prosecution.”
Brennan filed the lawsuit after months of sitting under federal scrutiny in Florida, where prosecutors have been examining his role in the intelligence community’s handling of the 2016 election and the cases brought against President Trump during that period.
“Given these strong indicia of vindictiveness, Director Brennan expects that he will forcefully challenge any eventual indictment as the product of an unconstitutionally vindictive and selective prosecution,” Brennan’s attorneys wrote in the filing.
The complaint claims Brennan is being prosecuted for “phantom criminal conduct” and singles him out alongside other Obama-era officials targeted by the Trump administration. His lawyers cited concern that DOJ records could be destroyed before a court can review them for evidence of political motivation.
“President Trump has been condemning and calling for Director Brennan’s prosecution for years,” the filing states. “Administration officials from the Acting Attorney General to the FBI Director and the Counselor overseeing the Brennan investigations have been publicly declaring Director Brennan a criminal, not only before securing a conviction in court but even before a full investigation and an indictment.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) called on the DOJ last year to charge Brennan with lying to Congress. Florida prosecutors subsequently requested transcripts from Brennan’s conversations with Congress, including closed-door sessions with the House Intelligence Committee.
In July 2025, then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused Brennan and other Obama-era officials of a “treasonous conspiracy” in how they managed intelligence on Russia’s 2016 election interference. Gabbard released an 11-page memo detailing internal discussions that showed Russia was unable to affect vote totals.
Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper jointly published an op-ed in The New York Times calling the accusations against them “patently false.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has not publicly commented on the lawsuit.
Brennan served as CIA director under President Obama from 2013 to 2017. He was a prominent and vocal critic of Trump throughout both of Trump’s presidential campaigns and early terms.
The lawsuit is the first formal legal move Brennan has made since the Florida investigation became public. No charges have been filed.
