Sep 17, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), right, speaks during FBI Director Kash Patel’s hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., on Sept.17, 2025. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY via Imagn Images

WASHINGTON − Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee on Oct. 21 referred former CIA Director John Brennan to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, alleging Brennan made false statements in his 2023 testimony before Congress about the Trump-Russia investigation.

"John Brennan lied to Congress," Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said in a post on X in reference to the President Barack Obama appointee. "Today, we referred him to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution."

The 'Steele dossier'

Specifically, Jordan said in his letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi that evidence newly declassified by appointees of Trump at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirms Brennan falsely testified on May 11, 2023, when he said “the CIA was not involved at all with the (Steele) dossier.”

The Steele dossier is a largely discredited series of intelligence reports written by former British spy Christopher Steele for a private investigations firm that alleged there were ties between Trump's 2016 election campaign and the Kremlin.

"As the newly declassified documents demonstrate, Brennan eagerly wanted to include information from the Steele dossier in the (Intelligence Community Assessment), a fact Brennan himself documented in writing," Jordan wrote, in reference to a classified CIA intelligence assessment about Russian interference in the election.

Brennan, who was not immediately available for comment, has denied wrongdoing, especially in his role helping lead a sprawling multiagency investigation into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump defeat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Steele's dossier was shared with the FBI near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign, and a summary of its allegations ultimately was tacked on to a U.S. intelligence community assessment about the Russian interference as an appendix.

The intelligence report was ordered by Obama after Trump was elected in November 2016 in response to widespread indications of Kremlin meddling. But in the years since, especially since Trump's election to a second term in 2024, it has spurred accusations by Trump and his supporters that the report was a coordinated effort to weaponize U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies against Trump − an accusation they have vehemently denied.

A bipartisan 2020 report by the Senate Intelligence Committee found evidence that Russia did work to influence the election, but that it did not successfully manipulate any votes.

The referral is the latest move by the Republican-led committee targeting Democrats that the GOP contends illegally weaponized government in an effort to go after Trump.

Brennan is one of many former Obama appointees, including top intelligence officials, that Trump himself – and his appointed law enforcement and intelligence leaders – have vowed to investigate and prosecute for unsubstantiated wrongdoing in connection with the Russia probe.

A 'flimsy, slipshod and contradictory' referral

Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, criticized his Republican colleagues for making the referral.

“Instead of working to end their shutdown of the government, lower healthcare costs and meet the needs of our people, Committee Republicans are dredging up old testimony from Trump foes, even when the statute of limitations has already run, in the hopes of finding something – anything – that could please their boss Donald Trump," Raskin said in a statement to USA TODAY. "The allegations of lying are flimsy, slipshod and contradictory.”

The criminal referral by Trump's Republican allies in Congress comes about three months after the president called for Brennan, and former FBI Director James Comey, to be prosecuted for their roles in the Russia investigation.

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicted Comey on Sept. 25 on charges that he lied to Congress and obstructed a congressional proceeding during testimony he gave before a Senate committee in 2020.

Comey has pleaded not guilty and on Oct. 20 formally sought to have the charges thrown out on the basis of "vindictive prosecution," citing public statements by Trump calling for his prosecution.

"President Trump ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute Mr. Comey because of personal spite and because Mr. Comey has frequently criticized the President for his conduct in office," Comey's defense team alleged.

On July 8, 2025, Fox News, citing DOJ sources, said the department was investigating both Comey and Brennan, Comey's legal team noted in its Oct. 20 motion to dismiss.

Brennan, who served as CIA director from 2013 to 2017, had become − like Comey − a vocal critic of Trump's after leaving office.

On July 10, following the Fox News report, Comey's lawyers wrote that Trump referred to Comey and Brennan as “crooked as hell” and “truly bad people and dishonest people," adding that “maybe they have to pay a price for that ... whatever happens, happens."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House Republicans refer Obama CIA Director John Brennan for criminal prosecution

Reporting by Josh Meyer, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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