Video transcript
We have a Fox News alert. James Brennan and James Comey are likely regretting going all in on the Russia hoax now because DOJ sources are telling Fox Digital that the FBI indeed has launched a criminal investigation into the former CIA director and former FBI director for potential wrongdoing related to the Trump-Russia probe and all the alleged false statements made to Congress. The full scope of the investigation is unclear right now, but two sources describe the FBI's view of the duo's interactions as, quote, "a conspiracy." Here to break it down, Jonathan Turley, George Washington University law prof and Fox News contributor. Jonathan, we've been hearing for some time about Brennan's alleged perjury over his role in the Steele dossier and the advancement of that and perhaps understanding that that was not credible. Your reaction tonight to this stunning development. Well, it's obviously a major development. These are two of the top people in the American intelligence system. And there have been these long unanswered questions about what they told Congress. At points, they both seem to adopt the surgeon Schultz approach of I knew nothing. If only I knew I would have done something that didn't strike many as being very credible. Both of these tend to be somewhat of micromanagers. They take pride in the fact that they followed the details of their departments. And it all comes down, particularly to a period in 2017, an intelligence community assessment at ICA that went out and viewed the Steele dossier, that infamous dossier funded by the Clinton campaign as credible. And that in fact, Steele was credible. They knew that was not true. The CIA had already said that it had great misgivings about the Steele dossier. Even though the Clinton campaign was denying to reporters that it funded the dossier, it was in fact funded through the law firm of the Clinton campaign that the Clinton campaign used. And so there's a lot of questions here as to why particularly Comey, for example, signed off on these FISA warrants, these secret court warrants to conduct this surveillance. The other thing, by the way, they knew very early on was that Carter Page, who was such a significant figure in the Steele dossier and the whole Russian hoax, was not only not a Russian spy, but was actually a CIA asset. And so the CIA told the FBI, "You're on the wrong road here. You're going after someone who is assisting us." All of that somehow got buried. And what came to the surface was the Steele dossier, which was not only not verified, it had been really shredded by many people in the intelligence committee. Yeah. And Comey claimed that it was Papadopoulos, that poor, poor, hapless kid. That Papadopoulos, his interactions with the Russians started the whole thing. And it was long before the dossier. But this was Comey testifying back in 2020 about this. Watch. It was done by the book. It was appropriate and it was essential that it be done. Okay. So you're proud of it? Overall, I'm proud of the work. There's no indication, and the inspector general would say it if he found it, that people were doing bad things on purpose, but that doesn't make it any less concerning. This was an investigation that was appropriately predicated and opened, that had to be opened. Jonathan, it had to be opened. Supercilious doesn't begin to describe him. So dismissive. Now, I remember listening to a testimony and just almost falling out of my chair. I mean, virtually everything he said was untrue. In fact, the IG reports shredded the FBI and said that they didn't follow protocol, that they ignored counterintelligence, that they pushed the Steele dossier forward. And these were two of the key individuals who did that. So the question is, does any of this trick the wire to perjury? And both of these are sophisticated players. You'll notice that they're very careful in how they word this. Comey is very careful to say that there wasn't basically malicious intent, not that there weren't mistakes. And time and time again, Comey portrayed himself as ignorant of all of these countervailing sources. Now, and again, the Brennan perjury questions have been swirling about for years and years. This is like one big flashback for both of us, Jonathan. Thank you very much.
Transcribed automatically. Expect errors in names and numbers.