Ex-CIA Director John Brennan Suggests Republicans Are ‘Tools’ of Russia: ‘Don’t Care’ If Anti-Biden Info Is ‘True or Not’

Former CIA Director John Brennan suggested Republican lawmakers are “tools” being “exploited” by the Russian government following U.S. federal authorities arresting Alexander Smirnov, who was charged with lying to the FBI about supposed bribery payments to President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

Smirnov was cited by House Intelligence Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) and others as a central piece to their impeachment inquiry against the president, but they have since said that the testimony previously given does not affect their overall allegations of corruption. Both Bidens have vehemently denied the president was ever involved in his business dealings, and thus far, witnesses have not said they have direct knowledge of any concrete connection.

One former Hunter Biden business associate, Devon Archer, described their tactics as a “soft abuse of power,” suggesting access to the White House to business partners that weren’t actually there.

Brennan, now a senior MSNBC analyst, claimed on Sunday that Republicans like Jordan and House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) don’t care whether the information they receive on Biden is accurate or not. He also suggested lawmakers are “tools” of Russia over Smirnov’s admission that “Russian intelligence” was involved in his accusations against the Bidens.

“I think that my colleagues are concerned that the Russians see the Republican lawmakers as tools,” Brennan told Michael Steele on MSNBC. “They are so willing to accept anything, and Russians use information operations very effectively. And I have no doubt at all that they are going to continue to use it in this presidential election.”

Brennan claimed Comer and Jordan only want “salacious” material, and the truth is less of a priority.

“The fact that Comer and Jordan and others willingly accept these things, and they don’t care whether it’s true or not as long as it’s salacious, as long as it’s something they can use,” he said. “This is something that the Russians recognize is ready for their exploitation.”

Brennan himself is a controversial figure when it comes to government intelligence programs. He was accused of outright lying to the public after he declared that reports the CIA spied on computers belonging to a Senate panel were false. He told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell in March 2014 that the allegations at the time of “hacking” into Senate computers were “beyond” the scope of the agency.

At the time, Brennan even expressed he was “dismayed” by the accusations by lawmakers, suggesting they were damaging the relationship between Congress and the intelligence community. The late Dianne Feinstein was among the lawmakers making the accusations. She chaired the Senate panel in question.

By July, an internal CIA investigation found that CIA officers had accessed the computers of the Senate panel ahead of the release of a report on the government’s interrogation programs.

He later apologized to lawmakers but claimed there was no “memorandum of understanding” and denied thwarting any investigation or oversight.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) also famously filibustered Brennan’s nomination to the CIA in a nearly-13 hour marathon on the Senate floor in which he railed against the intelligence official and America’s drone program and the policy for authorizing the killing of American citizens. Brennan had overseen the drone program.

Watch above via MSNBC.