The Daily Fuckup

Former CIA Director John Brennan filed a federal lawsuit on July 1 seeking an order that would require the government to preserve records tied to two Justice Department criminal investigations into him. The complaint does not try to stop the probes. It asks the court to make sure materials such as emails, notes, text messages, witness statements and other internal records are kept available for any later challenge to charges, including a possible vindictive- or selective-prosecution claim.

One of the investigations concerns a claim that Brennan made false statements during a 2023 House Judiciary Committee interview about the January 2017 intelligence community assessment and the Steele dossier. The other involves what the complaint describes as a “grand conspiracy” theory, centered in Florida, that former intelligence and law-enforcement officials conspired to undermine Donald Trump. Brennan says the government has opened grand jury investigations on both matters and has already issued subpoenas in connection with them.

The filing names Trump, Justice Department leaders, the FBI director, the CIA director and other officials in their official capacities. Brennan argues that if he is ever indicted, the court reviewing any prosecution would need access to internal records and communications to judge whether the case was brought for a legitimate law-enforcement reason or in retaliation. His lawsuit seeks injunctive relief aimed at preserving those materials now, before any later defense can be blunted by missing documents.

Brennan’s complaint leans hard into the claim that the investigations are politically driven, but the immediate request is narrower and procedural: keep the paper trail intact. That matters because a vindictive- or selective-prosecution challenge usually depends on internal evidence, not just public statements or suspicions. If the records are preserved, a later court could test the government’s explanation. If they are not, Brennan argues, the ability to make that challenge could be badly weakened. For now, he has not been charged, and no court has ruled on the merits of his claims.