U.S. Attorney John Durham's team is investigating the origins of the Russia investigation and the FBI's surveillance activities. Durham reportedly questioned former CIA Director John Brennan at CIA headquarters for eight hours on Friday, although Nick Shapiro, an adviser for Brennan, says the former spy chief was assured that he is not a target of Durham's criminal investigation.
Brennan was informed by Mr. Durham that he is not a subject or a target of a criminal investigation and that he is only a witness to events that are under review. The interview was conducted at CIA headquarters and lasted eight hours. 2/8
— Nick Shapiro (@nick_shapiro) August 22, 2020
According to Shapiro, Brennan provided Durham with details regarding "the efforts made by the intelligence community to understand and disrupt the actions taken by Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election." Brennan's advisor recounts the 8-hour interview as if it were Brennan asking Durham all the questions.
Brennan also told Durham that the repeated efforts of Donald Trump & William Barr to politicize Mr. Durham's work have been appalling & have tarnished the independence & integrity of the Department of Justice, making it difficult for DoJ professionals to carry out their job. 7/8
— Nick Shapiro (@nick_shapiro) August 22, 2020
It is Brennan's fervent hope that the results of the Durham review will be apolitical and not influenced by personal or partisan agendas. 8/8
— Nick Shapiro (@nick_shapiro) August 22, 2020
Brennan was a firm believer in the Trump-Russia collusion theory, and he continued to peddle the false narrative for years on MSNBC until the conspiracy theory was finally debunked by Robert Mueller's team. According to Shapiro, Brennan isn't under investigation, only a witness to the events under review.
On Wednesday, former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who worked on Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation, pleaded guilty to making false statements in order to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on former Trump campaign official Carter Page.
Attorney General Bill Barr, who appointed Durham to lead the investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation and the FBI's surveillance activities, has called Durham's findings "troubling," and said in a recent interview that "significant" developments in the Durham probe will likely be revealed before the November election.
