John Brennan Sues the Department of Justice as He Faces an Investigation Into the Origins of the 'Russiagate'

John Brennan, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ). The former official is under investigation regarding the origins of the so-called 'Russiagate'.

The lawsuit comes after a federal grand jury began investigating former intelligence and FBI officials linked to the origins of the 'Russian plot,’ including Brennan, who served as CIA director during the administration of Barack Obama. In November 2025, a federal grand jury subpoenaed the former CIA director to testify as part of the investigation into the matter.

Specifically, Brennan is seeking a court order compelling the DOJ to preserve the records of the ongoing federal investigations against him, as he believes those documents could be key to his defense in the event of an indictment.

The former official maintains that the investigation against him is politically motivated and seeks to compel the government to preserve internal documents and communications that, according to his defense, could demonstrate that this is retaliation for his role in the investigations that marked the early months of Trump’s presidency.

Brennan’s attorneys argued that any federal indictment against their client will be immediately challenged in court on the grounds that it is “unconstitutionally vindictive and selective.”

“This Administration has adopted a policy of using criminal process and prosecution to punish the President's perceived adversaries,” Brennan’s legal team wrote in the complaint, filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C.

“It is against this backdrop that former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John O. Brennan, is being vindictively singled out for investigation and prosecution,” the attorneys added.

The case was assigned to District Judge Jia Cobb, who was nominated in 2021 by President Joe Biden.

The so-called 'Russiagate' was the investigation into alleged coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election. The case stemmed from allegations that Moscow had interfered in the election to benefit Trump, and involved officials such as Brennan, then director of the CIA. Years later, Special Counsel Robert Mueller confirmed Russian interference but found no evidence that Trump or his campaign had criminally conspired with Moscow.