CBS News
· collected 2026-09-14 · by Sarah N. Lynch, Jacob Rosen
John Brennan, former CIA Director, was subpoenaed last week by a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, as part of an investigation into alleged conspiracies involving Obama- and Biden-era officials. The case is being overseen by Kurt Olsen, who confirmed that Brennan is considered both a "subject" and a "target," indicating the probe involves whether he lied to Congress about Russian interference in the 2016 election and broader investigations related to former President Trump's alleged civil rights violations. Brennan’s legal team claims these probes are politically motivated and have asked for court intervention to preserve relevant communications from Justice Department officials.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
John Brennan, former CIA director, has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, on October 15th as part of an ongoing Department of Justice investigation. The subpoena is related to what the prosecutors describe as a "far-reaching" criminal inquiry examining whether government officials who investigated Donald Trump over the last decade conspired against him. This includes inquiries into Russia election interference in 2016 and Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The investigation has been described by some as a “grand conspiracy” probe, suggesting that certain Obama- and Biden-era officials may have acted unlawfully to deprive Trump of his rights. Notably, one of the lead prosecutors on this case, Joe diGenova, recently resigned amid disagreements over how the case is being handled. Brennan's lawyer, Ken Wainstein, has filed a court request demanding preservation of all records from these investigations, arguing they are essential to defend against any potential indictment based on claims of vindictive prosecution.
Written for “Trump Grand Conspiracy Investigation” on 2026-09-15,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.65, but 2 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 9433: no verified evidence · logged 2026-09-14
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
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."
uncertain
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."
uncertain
Nobody → press → investigations
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