Jim Jordan Referred Ex-CIA Director John Brennan to Justice Department Over Alleged False Testimony
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has referred former CIA Director John Brennan to the Justice Department, accusing him of making false statements to Congress during testimony related to the 2016 Trump-Russia investigation.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Jordan cited “significant evidence” that Brennan made “numerous willfully and intentionally false statements” before the Judiciary Committee in 2023 regarding the credibility of the Steele dossier. Brennan had claimed the CIA viewed the dossier as an authentic and reliable source that hinted at collusion between Russia and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump—a claim that has since been widely discredited.
“John Brennan lied to Congress,” Jordan wrote on X, attaching a copy of his referral. “Today, we referred him to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.”
Jordan’s letter referenced a declassified CIA memo showing that senior agency officials had raised concerns with Brennan about “specific flaws” in the Steele dossier while the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) was being drafted at the direction of then-President Barack Obama. Despite these warnings, Brennan “disregarded their concerns” and prioritized “general conformity with existing theories than by legitimate tradecraft concerns,” according to the memo. When challenged about the dossier’s lack of integrity by CIA analysts, Brennan reportedly responded, “Yes, but doesn’t it ring true?”
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The committee chairman argued that this directly contradicts Brennan’s 2023 testimony claiming, “the CIA was very much opposed to having any reference or inclusion of the Steele dossier in the [ICA],” since, as director, Brennan was speaking for the agency itself.
Jordan further contended that Brennan misled Congress by denying that the CIA had any involvement with the dossier in preparing the post-2016 election intelligence assessment. “Brennan stated that ‘the CIA was not involved at all with the [Steele] dossier,’” Jordan wrote. However, Jordan pointed to a 2017 House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) report, recently declassified, showing that “the decision to incorporate information from the Steele dossier in the ICA ‘was jointly made by the Directors of CIA and FBI.”
According to the same report, a senior FBI analyst confirmed that “after debating for several days whether to include information from the dossier, ‘upper levels [at FBI and CIA] decided to put it in.’” Jordan concluded, “Brennan’s assertion that the CIA was not ‘involved at all’ with the Steele dossier cannot be reconciled with the facts.”
Jordan also referenced Brennan’s 2017 testimony before the House Intelligence Committee about the Steele dossier, noting that they “indicate a pattern of Brennan’s willingness to lie to Congress about the Steele dossier.”
Earlier this year, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe made similar criminal referrals to the Justice Department, and the FBI reportedly launched a criminal investigation into Brennan in July.
John Brennan lied to Congress.
Today, we referred him to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.
Read the full referral here: https://t.co/NG45lgFWgM pic.twitter.com/92BF4BUz4B
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 21, 2025
