Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., told Newsmax on Tuesday that former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance needs to be revoked after the Durham Report exposed Brennan knew allegations of Russia colluding with Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign were false but continued to maintain publicly that they were true.
“He should really go through a thorough examination of himself and his past and how he's handled being the CIA director,” Van Drew told “Carl Higbie FRONTLINE.” “Anybody that's capable of behaving the way that he behaved, is capable of putting forth the untruths that he did, is capable of an awful lot.
“I'd like a thorough and complete, it may [require] legislation to do so in view of everything he's done in his entire time in the CIA. He should also lose all security clearance for what he did. One of the first things in the CIA, FBI; supposed to tell the truth.”
The report by special counsel John Durham provided evidence that Brennan used his position to mislead the public. When interviewed by Durham, Brennan said “they found no conspiracy” regarding collusion between Russia and Trump’s campaign. But after special counsel Robert Mueller released his report proving no collusion, Brennan went on MSNBC saying he “suspected there was more” to collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia than Mueller had let on.
Brennan also was one of 51 former intelligence officers who signed a letter late in the 2020 presidential campaign saying the New York Post’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation, a claim that has since been proved false.
“What we've got to do with Brennan number one is any security clearances he has, he should lose,” Van Drew, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said. “He doesn’t tell the truth on multiple occasions about very serious issues. Secondly, we should look into, as I said before, his background, what he's done, what he's been involved in. I wonder if there are some real surprises there because we haven't done things like that before. It's time that we did that.
“He's really let America down.”
Van Drew also said the FBI needs to be reorganized because “there aren’t enough checks in place.” He said the agency should maintain its essential function for keeping Americans safe, but it should not be allowed “to be weaponized to go after good Americans, not to go after moms and dads in schools, not to go after people who are telling the truth, not to do something that's purely political.”
Newsmax reached out to Brennan for comment.
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