Lawyer who led effort to overturn 2020 election will oversee probe of ex-CIA director
Joseph DiGenova, a conservative lawyer who previously represented President Trump’s campaign as it challenged the 2020 election results, is being tapped by the U.S. Justice Department to conduct an ongoing criminal investigation of former CIA Director John Brennan, a Justice Department official said Saturday.
DiGenova, who will oversee the investigation from the Southern District of Florida, joins the team just days after Maria Medetis Long’s arrest. removed from the caseAs CBS News previously reported. He will serve as counsel to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the official added.
A source familiar with the matter told CBS News that Medetis Long was removed from the case after voicing concerns about the strength of the evidence. A Justice Department spokesman said Friday that staffing changes related to cases is “healthy and normal,” but did not elaborate on the reasons for the change.
The decision to add DiGenova and remove a federal prosecutor from the investigation will likely raise concerns about whether the case is politically motivated. The personnel shakeup carries echoes of another case by Mr. Trump last year fired chief federal prosecutor After voicing concerns about the strength of the evidence in the cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, he appointed a loyalist to replace him in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Accusations against James it was later A Trump administration official has been fired despite filing new criminal referrals last month with federal prosecutors in Miami and Chicago for two possible homeowners insurance fraud cases.
DiGenova is a staunch Trump ally who has repeatedly pushed conspiracy theories claiming the 2020 election was stolen. In 2021, he was forced to apologize to Chris Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency who was fired during Mr. Trump’s first term, after Krebs said he felt the 2020 election did not involve major fraud or interference.
Krebs later sued DiGenova, calling for Krebs to be “drawn, quartered” and “shot” during a television appearance. Krebs later claimed that these comments were: led to death threats against him.
DiGenova, 81, previously served as U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., under Republican President Ronald Reagan.
The investigation into Brennan was sparked last October by a referral by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee over allegations that Brennan lied to Congress about the CIA’s role in preparing the intelligence assessment of Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
In the redirect, Director Jim Jordan alleged that Brennan “falsely” denied that the CIA relied on a dossier prepared by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele during the drafting of the CIA’s intelligence assessment, and that he falsely informed the committee that the CIA opposed the inclusion of the Steele dossier in the assessment.
the so-called Steele dossier It contained salacious allegations against then-candidate Trump that have not yet been verified.
The case has been heating up in recent weeks as team members continue to interview key witnesses. Chris DeLorenz, former law clerk for the U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon Special counsel Jack Smith, during his investigation into Mr. Trump’s withholding of secret records, also became involved in the case after Trump recently left his post as assistant attorney general to become a prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida.
