Former CIA Director John Brennan joined MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace on Wednesday and weighed in on the news that he and former FBI Director James Comey are reportedly under FBI investigation for alleged false statements to Congress regarding the 2016 intelligence assessment that Russia sought to interfere in that year’s election.
“My colleague, Ken Dilanian, is reporting that DOJ has essentially confirmed a criminal investigation has been opened or a referral has been made. Do you believe that to be true? And if that’s the case, what would the process be for you to be aware of that, made aware of it?” Wallace asked Brennan.
“Quite frankly, I don’t know what is true, you know. There’s so many things that get out into the media bloodstream, and it’s interesting that it was, I think, Fox News and the New York Post that are reporting things like this. So I don’t know whether or not there’s any validity to it,” Brennan replied, adding:
If it was a referral, if there is an investigation, presumably if there is an investigation, people will be questioned. I would be questioned about it, but again, I’ve had no contact from them. But again, uh, I testified in front of many, many congressional committees in the House and the Senate over the years, and I continue to explain exactly what we did during this process, why we tried to make sure
we stayed true to our intelligence responsibilities and that we were not going to do anything at all to try to interfere in that election.And again, it was a challenging time, but also one I think that the people who actually worked this, both in terms of trying to collect intelligence prior to the election and then the ones who put together the intelligence community assessment, they really I think showed the best of what the intelligence community and what CIA is made of. So again, I am clueless about what it is exactly that they may be investigating me for.
“The Durham probe was celebrated by Donald Trump. Bill Barr accompanied Mr. Durham on trips overseas, rather unusual optics for a special investigator, special counsel. Did you cooperate fully with the Durham probe? Were you interviewed by his investigators?” Wallace followed up, referring to the special counsel investigation into the origins of the 2016 Russia collusion allegations. Durham’s final 306-page unclassified report found that there wasn’t enough evidence to support any further investigation or criminal charges in the matter.
“I was interviewed by John Durham himself along with his investigators for I think close to eight hours. And they were able to look at all of the documents, all of my emails and other types of things, and they reviewed it extensively,” Brennan replied, adding:
And I think Bill Barr said that it appeared as though CIA stayed in its lane. And so again,
it is very surprising that this is happening now. I don’t think there’s any new evidence that’s been uncovered at all. I have tried to answer every question I have been asked, whether it be by Senate or House members or John Durham or others, fully, because I want to make sure that people understand exactly what the Russians were doing to try to interfere in our very, very solemn domestic election system.
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.