Former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed in a wide-ranging investigation run by U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones, a Trump-appointed prosecutor based in Florida's Southern District. The probe, dubbed the "grand conspiracy" investigation, has issued more than 130 subpoenas since launching last year and targets top officials who served under former presidents Obama and Biden. The subpoena to Comey, issued last week, focuses on his alleged role in drafting a January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment concerning Russian election interference that favored Trump.
The Intelligence Community Assessment referenced the Steele Dossier, a document now widely discredited. A Tradecraft Review completed in June under Trump's current CIA Director John Ratcliffe found that the dossier's inclusion "ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment."
The Trump administration's theory holds that Democratic officials bent the rules, broke the law, and lied under oath to investigate, prosecute, and undermine Trump from his 2016 election through his federal indictments in 2023. Quiñones hopes to tie Comey, Brennan, and others, including former special prosecutor Jack Smith, together in a prosecutable conspiracy case. The idea of a criminal grand conspiracy has so far failed in the courts. Critics argue this proves no real crime against Trump took place.
Brennan remains prosecutable because he is accused of lying in a congressional deposition concerning the Steele Dossier in 2023, keeping him within the five-year statute of limitations. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump nominee, is overseeing the grand jury based in Fort Pierce. Cannon previously threw out the federal prosecution against Trump in his classified documents case in 2024.
An attempted prosecution of Comey failed in the Eastern District of Virginia, while the investigation of Brennan stalled in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Brennan's attorneys wrote to the chief judge of the Florida district that "this unrelenting presidential pressure to pursue political targets without regard to the law or facts has resulted in an unprecedented spike in the incidence of irregular prosecutorial conduct, especially in relation to grand jury investigations."
Former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed in a wide-ranging investigation run by U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones, a Trump-appointed prosecutor based in Florida's Southern District. The probe, dubbed the "grand conspiracy" investigation, has issued more than 130 subpoenas since launching last year and targets top officials who served under former presidents Obama and Biden. The subpoena to Comey, issued last week, focuses on his alleged role in drafting a January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment concerning Russian election interference that favored Trump.
The Intelligence Community Assessment referenced the Steele Dossier, a document now widely discredited. A Tradecraft Review completed in June under Trump's current CIA Director John Ratcliffe found that the dossier's inclusion "ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment." Ratcliffe subsequently referred both Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan for prosecution based on this review.
The Trump administration's theory holds that Democratic officials bent the rules, broke the law, and lied under oath to investigate, prosecute, and undermine Trump from his 2016 election through his federal indictments in 2023. Quiñones hopes to tie Comey, Brennan, and others, including former special prosecutor Jack Smith, together in a prosecutable conspiracy case. The idea of a criminal grand conspiracy has so far failed in the courts, which critics say is proof that no real crime against Trump took place.
The statute of limitations to prosecute Comey for his alleged false statements in 2020 has passed. However, Brennan remains prosecutable because he is accused of lying in a congressional deposition concerning the Steele Dossier in 2023, keeping him within the five-year statute of limitations. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump nominee, is overseeing the grand jury based in Fort Pierce. Cannon previously threw out the federal prosecution against Trump in his classified documents case in 2024.
An attempted prosecution of Comey failed in the Eastern District of Virginia, while the investigation of Brennan stalled in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Brennan's attorneys wrote to the chief judge of the Florida district that "this unrelenting presidential pressure to pursue political targets without regard to the law or facts has resulted in an unprecedented spike in the incidence of irregular prosecutorial conduct, especially in relation to grand jury investigations." The officials, including Comey, have decried the investigation as political persecution and lawfare. Comey's attorneys could not be immediately reached for comment.
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