Brennan seeks court order to preserve records in Trump-linked probes

John Brennan asked a federal court in Washington, D.C., to order the preservation of records tied to two Florida investigations as he tries to guard against evidence disappearing before any judge can review a possible vindictive-prosecution claim. His lawsuit said the files could become essential if he is ever indicted, and his lawyers argued that Brennan has been “vindictively singled out for investigation.”

It centers on two probes run through the Miami-area U.S. Attorney’s Office: one looking at whether Brennan lied to Congress in 2023 about the intelligence community’s assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election, and another broader “grand conspiracy” inquiry into whether Obama- and Biden-era officials conspired to keep Trump out of political office. No charges have been filed, and the Justice Department has denied claims that it is weaponizing its power.

Brennan's filing cited Trump's hostility toward him. The lawsuit said Trump has made more than 100 verbal or written statements since 2017 criticizing Brennan, and it pointed to Trump’s directives to Justice Department officials to pursue cases “without regard to factual or legal justification” as evidence that any prosecution could be driven by retaliation rather than law.

Brennan’s lawyers said relevant documents, messages and other records could vanish before a court can evaluate whether the case against him was tainted by unconstitutional vindictiveness. His lawyers said the government has a “questionable recent history” with record-preservation obligations.

In May 2026, the senior career prosecutor overseeing the Brennan case was removed after raising concerns about the strength of the evidence, then replaced by Joseph DiGenova, a staunch Trump ally, to run both investigations. Victoria Toensing, DiGenova’s wife and another Trump ally, was also sworn in as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida and was working on the Brennan matters.

In March 2026, the Justice Department requested House Intelligence Committee records related to Brennan. In October 2025, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan referred Brennan for criminal prosecution over alleged false statements during a 2023 transcribed interview, including claims tied to the Steele dossier and the CIA’s role in the Russia investigation. The Justice Department had already confirmed criminal probes into Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey in July 2025.