The Daily Fuckup

Former CIA Director John Brennan filed suit in federal court on July 1, asking a judge to order the government to preserve documents and communications tied to criminal investigations now underway around him. The complaint names President Donald Trump, Justice Department leaders, the FBI director, the CIA director and other officials, and says Brennan expects to challenge any eventual indictment as an unconstitutional vindictive and selective prosecution. ([storage.courtlistener.com](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.294102/gov.uscourts.dcd.294102.1.0.pdf))

The lawsuit does not seek to stop the investigations. Instead, it asks for injunctive relief to make sure internal records are kept intact so they can be reviewed later if charges are filed. Brennan’s filing says those materials would matter to any court asked to examine whether prosecutors acted for proper law-enforcement reasons or to carry out what the complaint calls a retaliatory agenda. Those are Brennan’s allegations, not findings by a court. ([storage.courtlistener.com](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.294102/gov.uscourts.dcd.294102.1.0.pdf))

In the complaint, Brennan says the Justice Department has opened two criminal probes involving him: one tied to a broad “grand conspiracy” theory and another tied to allegations that he made false statements to Congress in a 2023 House Judiciary Committee interview. He says government officials have publicly called for his prosecution and that the internal record could be important if he later moves to dismiss any indictment. ([storage.courtlistener.com](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.294102/gov.uscourts.dcd.294102.1.0.pdf))

The filing is pre-indictment, so no court has ruled on the merits of any future vindictive-prosecution claim. For now, the immediate issue is narrower: whether the government must preserve emails, notes, memos and related materials while the investigations continue. Brennan’s position is that without a preservation order, potentially relevant evidence could be lost before any challenge is heard. ([storage.courtlistener.com](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.294102/gov.uscourts.dcd.294102.1.0.pdf))