Trump on Brennan, Comey probe reports: "Maybe they have to pay a price"
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President Trump answers questions during a multilateral lunch with African leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House on July 9. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Trump responded Wednesday to reports that former CIA director John Brennan and former FBI director James Comey are being investigated over allegations that they made false statements to Congress during the Russia probe.
The big picture: Brennan and Comey were under criminal investigation over the FBI probe into possible links between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia after CIA director John Ratcliffe referred evidence to the FBI of possible wrongdoing.
- Fox News Digital first reported details of the probe.
Zoom in: "I know nothing about it other than what I read today, but I will tell you, I think they're very dishonest people," Trump said when asked about the investigation by a reporter during a White House meeting with African leaders.
- "I think they're crooked as hell and maybe they have to pay a price for that.
- "I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people," Trump added. "So whatever happens, happens."
Driving the news: Ratcliffe last week released a review that criticized intelligence leaders for rushing the Russia report and for the intelligence community assessment relying on a single source to express "high confidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin "aspired" to help Trump win the 2016 election.
- However, it did not dispute "the quality and credibility" of the CIA's conclusions.
- "Agency heads at the time created a politically charged environment that triggered an atypical analytic process around an issue essential to our democracy," Ratcliffe said in a statement on the report.
What they're saying: Brennan told MSNBC's "Deadline: White House" Wednesday afternoon that neither the Department of Justice nor the CIA had contacted him about the investigation.
- It's "hard to believe that here we are" so many years after the 2016 presidential election and "we're still going over this ground that has been, I think, fairly well and exhaustively plowed," Brennan said to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace.
- "I think this is unfortunately, a very sad and tragic example of the continued politicization of the intelligence community, of the national security process, and quite frankly, I'm really shocked that individuals are willing to sacrifice their reputations, their credibility, their decency to continue to do Donald Trump's bidding on something that clearly is just politically based."
Zoom out: Then-special counsel John Durham concluded in a 2023 report that the FBI's basis for launching the Russia investigation was "seriously flawed," but he did not bring high-level indictments or uncover evidence of what Trump has called "the crime of the century."
- A DOJ spokesperson said, "We do not comment on ongoing investigations."
- Representatives for the FBI declined to comment on the matter and Comey could not be immediately reached for comment.
Go deeper: Former FBI director Comey blasted over cryptic post on Trump
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a DOJ statement.
