In a bombshell development sure to shake Washington’s entrenched Deep State, House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced Tuesday that his committee has officially referred former CIA Director John Brennan to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution — citing clear evidence that Brennan lied to Congress during sworn testimony.
The move marks a major escalation in the GOP’s long battle to hold accountable the Obama-era intelligence chiefs who fueled the now-debunked Russia collusion hoax against President Donald Trump. For years, Brennan — along with former FBI Director James Comey and others — has faced allegations of misleading Congress and the American public to protect the intelligence community’s political power.
“John Brennan lied to Congress,” Jordan declared bluntly on X (formerly Twitter). “Today, we referred him to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.” His post included the full referral and a screenshot of the official first page, underscoring the seriousness of the case.
The criminal referral accuses Brennan of knowingly making false statements under oath during a May 2023 transcribed interview with the House Judiciary Committee. The report states:
> “We write to refer significant evidence that former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan knowingly made false statements during his transcribed interview… Brennan made numerous willfully and intentionally false statements of material fact contradicted by the record established by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the CIA.”
Citing federal statute 18 U.S.C. § 1001 — the same law used to prosecute others for lying to Congress — the document stresses that congressional oversight depends on truthful testimony. “Making false statements before Congress,” the referral reads, “undermines the integrity of the Committee’s constitutional duty.”
As the news broke, Brennan’s composure cracked. Appearing on MSNBC’s *Deadline* Wednesday, the former CIA chief erupted into an angry tirade, calling President Trump a “charlatan” and accusing him of “weaponizing government” — a laughable charge coming from one of the architects of the Deep State’s real weaponization.
“This is something deeply flawed about Donald Trump,” Brennan fumed. “He has to go after his enemies… he feels as though he has to vanquish his rivals.”
Brennan then veered into a bizarre rant, lamenting that Trump supporters continue to back him: “What I find most shocking is that his base — his MAGA base — continues to be hoodwinked by a world-class charlatan.”
He didn’t stop there. In what critics called a tone-deaf attempt to pivot, Brennan claimed that Trump’s policies on illegal immigration and Medicaid somehow undermine “American values.” He sneered, “He’s tearing families apart, going after Medicaid recipients, and it’s inconsistent with who we are.”
The irony of Brennan — who once oversaw drone strikes and covert surveillance programs — moralizing about “American values” was not lost on conservatives.
Republicans have long accused Brennan of politicizing the CIA and lying about his role in promoting the phony Steele Dossier that fueled the FBI’s spying on Trump’s 2016 campaign. With this referral, Jim Jordan is making clear that the days of unelected bureaucrats lying with impunity are numbered.
As one senior GOP staffer put it bluntly: “The swamp is trembling — and John Brennan knows it.”
