[ad_1]
Former CIA Director John Brennan was questioned for eight hours on Friday by US Prosecutor John Durham as part of Durham’s ongoing review of the origins of the investigation launched into Russian interference in the elections from 2016, according to a statement released by Brennan’s spokesperson.
During the interview, which took place at CIA headquarters, Brennan was told by Durham that he was “not a subject or a target” of a criminal investigation and that he was being questioned as that “witness to events under review,” Nick Shapiro, who was previously Brennan’s senior advisor, said.
“Brennan welcomed the opportunity to answer Mr. Durham’s questions regarding a wide range of intelligence-related activities undertaken by the CIA ahead of the November 2016 presidential election, as well as the community’s assessment of the intelligence (ICA) released in early January 2017, ”Shapiro said. “Brennan provided details of efforts by the intelligence community to understand and disrupt Russian steps to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.”
Durham, the U.S. Attorney General for the Connecticut District, was tasked over a year ago by Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election of 2016. As part of his investigation, Durham is also known for examining the intelligence community’s analytical assessments of Moscow’s intentions, including those made public in the 2017 document outlining the findings of several US agencies.
This has raised concerns among current and former intelligence officials, who believe the process by which intelligence analysts come to their judgments should not be subject to a law enforcement standard.
The 2017 ICA was examined during Special Advocate Robert Mueller’s investigation and was scrutinized in detail by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which, on a bipartisan basis, found it “a product of solid intelligence “.
Shapiro said Brennan “wondered why the analytical profession and the findings of the ICA are being scrutinized” during Friday’s interview, although he otherwise praised Durham and his team for their professionalism.
Durham, who has previously served several times as a Special Investigator for the Department of Justice, conducted much of his review in the public eye – though a December statement he released contradicting a finding by the Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice raised questions about his impartiality.
Democrats have since expressed concern that Durham’s work could be used by Barr to undermine the work of the intelligence community and the FBI investigation, which President Trump continues to criticize as a “hunt for witches “.
Mr. Trump and Brennan, who led the CIA under the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017, also engaged in a public and intensely personal feud. The president accused Brennan of illegally monitoring his campaign and sought in 2018 to revoke his security clearance. Brennan sharply criticized Mr. Trump, accusing him of corruption and abuse of power.
To date, the Durham review has resulted in a criminal charge. Earlier this week, former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty to forging a document used to gain surveillance on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. In recent testimony to Congress, Barr did not rule out releasing further of the Durham findings ahead of the November election.
In his statement, Shapiro said it was Brennan’s “fervent hope” that the Durham review results would be “apolitical and not influenced by personal or partisan agendas”.
[ad_2]
Source link