Former CIA Director John Brennan has received a letter notifying him that he is the target of a federal grand jury investigation in Miami, his attorney said, calling the probe a “politically motivated and fact-free criminal investigation.”
The “target” designation signals that the Department of Justice is looking into whether Mr. Brennan engaged in any wrongdoing related to government surveillance of the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election and unverified allegations of Russian collusion.
Jason A. Reding Quiñones, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, reportedly is heading the investigation.
Brennan attorney Kenneth Wainstein is asking U.S. District Chief Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga, a George W. Bush appointee, to ensure that any criminal case involving his client does not end up before Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump-appointed judge who has ruled in favor of the president.
“We urge your honor to exercise your supervisory authority as chief judge to ensure the United States attorney does not steer this matter to the Fort Pierce division and to the courtroom of Judge Aileen Cannon,” Mr. Wainstein said in a 17-page letter to Chief Judge Altonaga.
Judge Cannon oversees the Fort Pierce division. If the grand jury investigation is located in Fort Pierce, she would, by default, be the judge overseeing the case.
Judge Cannon ruled in favor of President Trump in a civil lawsuit that she later threw out in 2022 and, in 2024, dismissed special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal charges of Mr. Trump mishandling classified documents, finding that he lacked standing to bring the charges since he was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Mr. Wainstein said prosecutors involved in the grand jury investigation have leaked to the media and are trying to forum and judge shop.
The New York Times, which first reported on Mr. Wainstein’s unusual request to Chief Judge Altonaga, noted that subpoenas have been issued to several individuals who were involved in the January 2017 intelligence assessment that suggested Mr. Trump was backed by Russia during his 2016 campaign.
Mr. Brennan had helped oversee that assessment.
Mr. Wainstein said Judge Cannon, in her handling of Mr. Trump’s classified documents case, has a “demonstrated pattern of favoring Donald Trump’s litigating positions.”
“We are no longer in a normal time,” he said in his letter to Chief Judge Altonaga. “We are now in a time when the Justice Department has surrendered much of its independence and the president is directly commanding his attorney general and her leadership team to use their prosecutorial authorities against his perceived political adversaries.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Neither Chief Judge Altonaga nor Judge Cannon responded to a request for comment.
