Brennan BUSTED: Dossier Bombshell Hits CIA

The revelation that former CIA Director John Brennan may have misled Congress about the infamous Steele Dossier’s role in the 2016 Trump-Russia intelligence assessment is a bombshell that exposes the rot at the heart of our intelligence bureaucracy—and raises serious questions about accountability at the highest levels of government.

At a Glance

Declassified CIA review shows Brennan inserted the Steele Dossier into the 2016 Russia assessment, overruling analysts’ objections.
Brennan’s sworn testimony to Congress contradicted by new evidence, sparking talk of possible perjury charges.
The dossier, funded by the Clinton campaign and never corroborated, was treated as credible intelligence during the election hysteria.
Latest findings reignite debate over politicized intelligence and trust in government institutions.

Brennan’s Dossier Decision: Ignoring the Experts

In late 2016, as the country reeled from a bitter election season, CIA Director John Brennan insisted on including explosive claims from the now-notorious Steele Dossier in the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian meddling. This wasn’t some backroom debate over a coffee break. Senior CIA Russia analysts, the people actually paid to know Russian intelligence tradecraft, warned that the dossier’s allegations didn’t pass basic credibility checks. Did Brennan listen? Of course not. He overruled his team and pushed the dossier into the assessment anyway, elevating unverified political gossip to the level of national intelligence.

This move wasn’t just a minor footnote. In 2023, the Durham Report confirmed the FBI couldn’t corroborate a single salacious claim from the dossier. Yet, the newly declassified CIA internal review reveals that Brennan didn’t just slap the dossier as an appendix—he worked it right into the main body of the ICA, giving it the kind of weight reserved for actual evidence. Why? Because, apparently, the political narrative mattered more than the facts. When you start using intelligence agencies as tools to boost a political campaign’s opposition research, you don’t just risk bad analysis—you shatter public trust in the entire system.

Congressional Testimony vs. Reality: The Perjury Question

Fast forward to May 2017. John Brennan sits before Congress, under oath, and declares the Steele Dossier “wasn’t part of the corpus of intelligence information that we had. It was not in any way used as a basis for the Intelligence Community Assessment that was done.” That’s not a slip of the tongue. That’s testimony under penalty of perjury. But the CIA’s own review, finally dragged into daylight, says otherwise. It shows the dossier was included not just as an afterthought, but as “supporting evidence” in the assessment itself.

So let’s get this straight: Brennan’s own analysts object, he shoves the dossier in anyway, and then he turns around and tells Congress the opposite. If the law means anything anymore, that’s not just a fib—it’s a possible felony. Legal experts are already debating whether Brennan opened himself up to perjury charges, though anyone who’s watched the swamp operate knows not to hold their breath for actual consequences. In Washington, accountability is about as rare as a balanced budget.

The Steele Dossier Debacle: How We Got Here

The Steele Dossier wasn’t some pristine piece of tradecraft. It was opposition research, paid for by the Clinton campaign and funneled through a former British spy. Its lurid claims never passed even the most basic verification. Yet, thanks to Brennan’s determination, this political hit piece wormed its way into the highest levels of U.S. intelligence. That’s not just bad judgment—that’s a deliberate choice to put politics over national security.

The fallout goes far beyond bruised egos in D.C. The inclusion of the dossier undermined the credibility of the entire Russia probe and handed ammunition to every American who suspects our intelligence agencies are more interested in protecting their own power than telling the truth. The pattern is all too familiar: Government agencies get caught bending the rules, and the American people are told to move along, nothing to see here. Meanwhile, trust in our institutions keeps sinking to new lows, and the real damage to democracy is brushed aside in the rush to defend the bureaucracy.

Long-Term Impact: Trust Broken, Accountability Dodged

What’s the cost when intelligence chiefs play fast and loose with the truth? For starters, it’s a massive erosion of faith in government. When partisans and their bureaucratic allies can twist intelligence to suit a political narrative—and then lie about it to Congress with apparent impunity—why would any taxpaying American believe a word coming out of Washington? The only thing more predictable than government overreach is the complete lack of consequences for the well-connected. If you’re a regular citizen, try lying to Congress and see how long your freedom lasts. But if you’re at the top of the alphabet agencies, it’s just another day at the office.

This farce has real-world consequences. Every time an intelligence official puts politics above principle, it’s another crack in the foundation of constitutional government. And yet, the same cast of characters keeps popping up on cable news, lecturing the rest of us about “protecting democracy.” Maybe if they started by telling the truth and respecting the law, Americans would have more faith in their sermons.