The Justice Department has tapped former Trump attorney Joseph diGenova to spearhead its criminal probe into ex-CIA Director John Brennan over the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, placing a seasoned advocate who has long accused Brennan of misconduct in direct control of the investigation.
DiGenova, a former U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., who represented President Donald Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, will serve as counselor to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche while working out of the Southern District of Florida, where a federal grand jury has been impaneled since late last year. He has previously accused Brennan of colluding with the FBI and Justice Department to frame Trump, allegations that date back to the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.
The appointment follows the removal of Maria Medetis Long, the lead career prosecutor on the case, who conveyed doubt that there was sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution, according to reports. The Justice Department did not dispute her departure.
A Justice Department spokesperson said: “As a matter of routine practice, attorneys are moved around on cases so offices can most effectively allocate resources. It is completely healthy and normal to change members of legal teams.”
Long had been overseeing a broad inquiry that included a false statements probe connected to Brennan, allegations tied to intelligence assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 election, and broader conspiracy-related investigations. Investigators have issued a flurry of subpoenas and continued pursuing witness interviews in recent months.
The probe stems from a referral by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, who charged that Brennan knowingly lied to Congress about his role in crafting the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, the now-disputed document that advanced the narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Trump.
At the center of Jordan’s referral is Brennan’s own testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, in which he claimed: “The CIA was very much opposed to having any reference or inclusion of the Steele dossier in the Intelligence Community Assessment.”
According to a 2020 House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence report declassified late last year, Brennan not only supported including the dossier, a collection of salacious, unverified allegations against Trump funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign law firm, but overrode the objections of senior CIA officers who argued it failed to meet basic tradecraft standards.
“In sum, Brennan’s testimony before the Committee on May 11, 2023, was a brazen attempt to knowingly and willfully testify falsely and fictitiously to material facts,” Jordan wrote in his referral to the Justice Department.
Brennan has continued to deny wrongdoing, maintaining his defense of the intelligence assessment even after the declassified documents undermined his account.
The leadership shift follows recent personnel changes at the Justice Department, including the attorney general’s replacement earlier this month. Acting Attorney General Blanche took over after Trump replaced Pam Bondi as attorney general earlier this month amid frustration over the pace of criminal investigations into political opponents. Blanche has said Trump has the right and duty to be involved in seeking investigations against people he has had “issues with.”
With diGenova now at the helm, federal investigators are expected to press forward. For the first time, the man leading the charge has spent years publicly arguing that Brennan belongs behind bars.
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