Feds Subpoena Comey in Expanding Probe of Trump-Era Investigations

Federal prosecutors in Miami have subpoenaed former FBI Director James Comey as part of a Justice Department investigation into Obama-era intelligence officials, CBS News reported Thursday, citing two sources familiar with the probe, after Axios first reported that Comey had received the subpoena.

The investigation, which began last year, has resulted in more than 130 subpoenas, CBS News reported.

Prosecutors have also issued subpoenas to former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok, and former FBI attorney Lisa Page, CBS News reported.

McCabe’s attorney, Michael Bromwich, told CBS News the probe amounts to “a vendetta in search of a crime.”

Attorneys for multiple witnesses told CBS News that more recent subpoenas seek similar records but expand the timeframe under scrutiny from 2016 to the present.

CBS News reported there was no immediate response from Comey or his representatives and that requests for comment were not returned as of Thursday.

Axios reported the subpoena relates in part to Comey’s alleged role in the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian election interference.

That assessment referenced the Steele dossier, which a CIA “Tradecraft Review” completed in June under CIA Director John Ratcliffe said “ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment,” according to Axios, which cited the review.

Ratcliffe has since referred Comey and Brennan for possible prosecution, Axios reported.

The investigation stems in part from a criminal referral by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who alleged a “treasonous conspiracy” by Obama-era officials to undermine Trump, CBS News reported, noting the claim was made without evidence.

Former officials targeted in the probe have broadly rejected the allegations and characterized the investigation as politically motivated, according to Axios.

Brennan’s attorneys, in a prior letter cited by Axios, wrote that “this unrelenting presidential pressure to pursue political targets without regard to the law or facts has resulted in an unprecedented spike in the incidence of irregular prosecutorial conduct.”