Investigation over political elite: charges against former intelligence chiefs

Another major political investigation has begun in America — a criminal case has been officially opened against former director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan and former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) James Comey, reported foxnews.com. This case is connected to violations of law committed during the investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

According to available information, CIA director John Ratcliffe handed over to FBI director Kash Patel a number of materials indicating Brennan's possible offense. In particular, serious suspicions are being raised that Brennan lied to Congress. As for James Comey, no specific details have been announced yet, but sources describe this case as a "conspiracy".

The main controversy around Brennan’s activities is that he, based on 2017 intelligence data, stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin supported Republican Donald Trump and thereby helped him defeat Hillary Clinton in the election. John Ratcliffe sharply criticized this conclusion in his report and separately noted that such accusations are unfounded.

So far, no legal decision has been made on the charges. As The New York Times points out, it is still unknown whether the investigation will result in any indictment at all.

On this issue, US President Donald Trump also expressed his opinion. On July 9, he told reporters that apart from news reports, he had no other information about the investigation, but considers Brennan and Comey dishonest and bad people. The president also noted that these individuals may be punished.

White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt, in an interview with Fox News, expressed her satisfaction with the start of this investigation.

This process is causing great political resonance. Russian interference in the 2016 elections has also previously been the subject of numerous investigations. In the investigation led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, it was determined that Russia interfered, but no collusion between Donald Trump and his election campaign was found.

Against this background, in 2018, St. Petersburg businessman Evgeny Prigozhin and 12 more people associated with the "troll factory" were accused of interfering in the 2016 elections. Later, Prigozhin admitted to creating the "troll factory", although his representatives had previously denied his connection to this structure.

Time will tell how events develop: this investigation against the American political elite is causing great discussion in society and may open new political debates. The final decisions and results of the case remain in the focus of the world community. Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!