Former CIA Director John Brennan has been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida on October 15 as part of a Justice Department investigation, according to his attorney Ken Wainstein. The investigation examines allegations that former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired to deprive Trump of his civil rights through their investigations of him over the past decade.
Wainstein characterized the investigation as extraordinarily unusual and argued before U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb for a court order requiring the Justice Department to preserve all related records. He contended that such documents would be essential for challenging any potential prosecution as unconstitutionally vindictive and selective. Wainstein also raised concerns about what he described as judge-shopping by the Justice Department, citing the location of the grand jury in Fort Pierce, home to Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed a classified documents prosecution against Trump in 2024.
Brennan is additionally the target of a separate inquiry into whether he made false statements to Congress regarding a 2016 intelligence community assessment on Russian interference in the presidential election. Brennan and his legal team have denied the allegation. The investigation into false statements previously involved subpoenas issued last spring that were subsequently withdrawn in favor of voluntary interviews.
The subpoena was delivered the same day that Joe diGenova, who had been leading the investigation informally known as the “grand conspiracy” probe, resigned. Reports indicated frustration from Justice Department and White House officials over the investigation’s pace and management. When contacted by media outlets, diGenova defended the investigation’s timeline, stating that credible prosecutions require adequate time to develop.
The Justice Department has not publicly announced a replacement for diGenova. The investigative team member communicating with Brennan’s defense is Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who previously advocated unsuccessfully for the Justice Department to support Trump’s claims regarding the 2020 election. Judge Cobb had not issued an immediate ruling on Brennan’s preservation request as of the article’s reporting.
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