Former CIA Director John Brennan was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Florida as part of a "grand conspiracy" investigation into Obama- and Biden-era officials last week, on the same day the lead prosecutor on the case abruptly resigned, court records show.
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records → subpoena → case
The subpoena, signed by former prosecutor Joe diGenova, asked Brennan to appear before a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Oct. 15, his attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein revealed in a sworn statement Monday.
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attorney → sign → statement
overseeing the investigation on Thursday, amid growing disagreements between senior department officials in Washington over the management of the probe, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.
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sources → oversee → News
diGenova confirmed his resignation to CBS News last week, but did not comment on why he left the Justice Department.
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he → confirm → Department
Wainstein said Brennan's lawyers spoke by phone on Friday with Kurt Olsen, another prosecutor involved in the case.
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lawyers → say → case
Olsen told Brennan's legal team he is considered a "subject" in the grand conspiracy probe, which is looking into whether Obama- and Trump-era officials conspired to deprive President Trump of his rights to keep him out of public office.
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officials → tell → office
"In that call, Mr. Olsen fielded our inquiries and indicated there are multiple 'viable' grand jury investigations, including a 'far-reaching' investigation in Fort Pierce that includes 'issues at Mar-a-Lago and beyond' into whether President Trump had his civil rights violated," Wainstein wrote in his sworn statement.
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Wainstein → field → statement
He also told Brennan's lawyers that the Obama-era CIA chief remains a "target" in a narrower investigation looking into whether he lied to Congress during congressional testimony about the intelligence community assessment into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
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he → tell → election
Olsen told his lawyers that the narrower case into whether Brennan lied to Congress also remained "viable."
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Brennan → tell → Congress
In Justice Department parlance, somebody is considered a "target" when prosecutors believe there is evidence linking them to a crime and view them as a "putative defendant."
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prosecutors → consider → defendant
The news of the subpoena came in court filings stemming from
.
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news → come → filings
Brennan alleges the investigations targeting him are politically motivated, and is seeking a court order to force the preservation of records and communications of top department and White House officials.
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investigations → allege → officials
On Monday, Brennan's legal team asked a federal judge to grant Brennan's motion for a preliminary injunction in the case.
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team → ask → case
"The threat of prosecution remains quite real," Wainstein argued to U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, adding that there have been "intentional efforts" by the Justice Department to hide potential misconduct in the case.
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Wainstein → remain → case
The lawyer cited diGenova's departure and the
from the case in April.
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lawyer → cite → April
"I'm perplexed as to what crime they could be prosecuting," Wainstein said, adding that the investigations are a "blatantly unconstitutional effort to target an innocent man."
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investigations → perplex → man
A lawyer for the Justice Department, Jeremy Newman, argued that Cobb should deny Brennan's request to intervene because "there's no indictment, there's no charges."
Cobb did not rule from the bench and took the arguments under advisement.
Attorney General Todd Blanche told CBS News in an interview Monday the sweeping "grand conspiracy" probe will march on despite diGenova's departure.
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probe → argue → departure
He said it would not be fair "to get into reasons why he chose to leave," but "the investigation continues."
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investigation → say → reasons
"One person doesn't define an investigation, no matter the investigation," the attorney general said.
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general → define → investigation
Pressed on whether diGenova's departure could slow the probe, Blanche said: "Nobody is slowing down in any investigations."
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Nobody → press → investigations
The Aporia
