US Politics
Ex-CIA chief John Brennan jabs activist in the chest after being confronted over Hunter Biden laptop claim
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Former CIA Director John Brennan was filmed jabbing a conservative activist in the chest after being confronted about the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.
At the time, Brennan, 70, signed a letter that claimed that the discovery of Joe Biden’s son’s emails had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
The video of Brennan poking conservative national security consultant Thomas Speciale was filmed on Thursday, amid a tense exchange about the scandal.
In the video, Brennan can be heard shouting, “You misrepresented that,” before lightly poking Speciale in the chest.
“We never said it was disinformation; we said it was Russian influence operations, which is what they do. There’s a big difference,” he added.
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When Speciale started aggressively waving his hand in Brennan’s direction, the former CIA chief said that he was not “going to waste my time with you.”
The bitter disagreement centered on a story broken by The New York Post, which claimed that Hunter Biden had attempted to use his father’s position as vice president to secure deals with various Ukrainian businessmen.
Before the story broke, the contents of the laptop were shared with Donald Trump’s advisor Steve Bannon. The 2020 Trump campaign later tried to use the story to derail Joe Biden’s own presidential bid.
Eventually, the laptop was seized by the FBI, which confirmed that the device genuinely belonged to Hunter Biden.
However, a joint investigation by two Republican Senate committees and a Republican House Oversight committee found that there was no wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden.
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As the political firestorm unfolded, Brennan signed a letter, written by 51 current and former intelligence officials, which suggested that they were “suspicious of Russian involvement” in the discovery of the laptop.
“Such an operation would be consistent with Russian objectives, as outlined publicly and recently by the Intelligence Community, to create political chaos in the United States and to deepen political divisions here,” the letter continued.
Donald Trump has long dismissed any ties between himself and the Republican Party and Russia. Although their relationship has soured, Trump has previously praised Putin as being “smart” and said that the idea of Russian interference in American elections is a “hoax.”
However, Brennan has since become a target for the GOP, with House Republicans now pushing the Department of Justice to file charges against him.
House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan said in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi that Brennan had “knowingly made false statements” during an interview by Congress in May 2023.
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Brennan, who led the CIA from 2023 until 2017 during the Obama administration, conducted a federal investigation into allegations of Russian interference during Trump’s first presidential campaign.
The probe was centered around the Steele dossier, a collection of documents compiled by a British intelligence officer that alleged that Trump and his allies had colluded with the Kremlin.
Brennan has denied that the CIA was involved with the Steele dossier, beyond investigating its claims.
However, Jordan has now claimed that “Brennan’s assertion that the CIA was not ‘involved at all’ with the Steele dossier cannot be reconciled with the facts.”
The targeting of Brennan by the GOP comes after several prominent politicians accused the Trump administration of weaponizing the Justice Department against the president’s political enemies.
Former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James were both indicted after Trump posted an email to Pam Bondi on Truth Social, which urged her to prosecute his enemies without “delay.”