Former CIA Director John Brennan filed a lawsuit Wednesday demanding that the Trump administration preserve records related to criminal investigations he says are being conducted as an act of retribution, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Brennan, who served as CIA director under President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017, argues in the lawsuit that the investigations are vindictive and that he needs the preserved records to challenge any potential indictment. His lawyers wrote that “the evidence of vindictiveness in this matter is overwhelming,” noting that top officials have publicly described Brennan as a criminal before bringing charges. The lawsuit says prosecutors are “engaging in demonstrably irregular prosecutorial activity in order to gin up a case that will satisfy the President’s direction.”
A Justice Department spokeswoman responded, saying, “While we cannot comment on the existence, or lack thereof, of an investigation, it is certainly rich that John Brennan is accusing anyone of a ‘retribution campaign.’”
The lawsuit details two separate investigations being run by prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida. One probe is examining whether intelligence and law enforcement officials who investigated Trump operated in a “grand conspiracy” to undermine him and violate his civil rights. The other is investigating whether Brennan lied to Congress during a 2023 deposition about the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to boost Trump’s chances. No charges have been filed in either case.
The conspiracy probe is being led by Joe diGenova, a former Trump campaign lawyer who previously criticized the Russia investigation and suggested that Brennan and other former intelligence officials should go to prison. Justice Department officials have recently added firepower to the probe: John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former senior Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, confirmed Wednesday that he will advise the team. Yoo wrote memos authorizing harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects during the Bush administration.
Yoo said in an email that diGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing — both former federal prosecutors — had sought his help, and “I immediately said yes.” The team will likely consult Yoo on constitutional or presidential-power questions that might arise, he said.
Brennan’s lawsuit names President Trump as a defendant along with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel. The case was assigned to Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, in Washington, D.C.