KNIVES OUT

Trump Attack Dog Issues Dozens of Subpoenas to His Enemies

The DOJ is ramping up its investigation into former CIA director whose agency concluded that Russia had tried to help President Trump in 2016.

A federal prosecutor in Florida has issued dozens of subpoenas for officials who investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election in response to one of President Donald Trump’s longest-running conspiracy theories.

The president claims he is the victim of a “grand conspiracy” of Democrats and “deep-state” operatives who have been working to destroy him since his first term in office, despite a lack of evidence.

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Two previous investigations into high-level officials who led the Russia inquiry found that there were no grounds to charge them with any crimes.

The Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason Reding Quiñones, has nevertheless begun subpoenaing intelligence officials who concluded in January 2017 that Russia was trying to tip the election in Trump’s favor, The New York Times reported.

Last week, Fox News and CBS News reported that a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida had signed off on subpoenas for former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

The number has now grown to more than two dozen subpoenas, according to the Times.

The investigation appears to focus on the role that Brennan played in a January 2017 intelligence assessment that found Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an online “influence campaign” to benefit Trump.

It’s not clear what potential crimes are being investigated and whether charges could even be brought within the statute of limitations, which is five years for most federal offenses.

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It’s also not clear why the Florida court would have jurisdiction over an intelligence assessment that took place in and around Washington, D.C., according to the Times.

Under the Constitution, charges must be brought in a venue where the conduct occurred, a concept known as personal jurisdiction that law students learn in their first semester.

MAGA activists have tried to argue that Trump owning a private resort and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, is somehow relevant to a government investigation into Russia that took place nearly 1,000 miles away.

They claim that a 2022 FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, which uncovered troves of classified documents that the president had kept after leaving office, was connected to the Russia inquiry—even though the Russia investigation ended three years before the Mar-a-Lago raid, in 2019.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Justice and the White House for comment.

A DOJ spokesperson told the Times in a statement, “While we do not confirm or comment on the existence of specific investigations, the American people should know that this department will continue to follow the facts and pursue justice in every case.”

A lawyer for Brennan who was reached by the newspaper declined to comment.

Over the past two months, Quiñones’ investigation into Brennan has widened to cover other unspecified actions that took place over a longer period, officials told the Times. The subpoenas are seeking documents and communications from July 1, 2016, to Feb. 28, 2017.

The inquiry began this year after Trump’s top intelligence officials referred Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey to the Department of Justice for investigation.

In September, Trump appointed his lawyer Lindsey Halligan—a 35-year-old former beauty queen with no prosecutorial experience—to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia after her predecessor said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Comey with lying to Congress.

Halligan then rushed through an indictment against Comey, and now his lawyers have argued that the case should be thrown out because Halligan is improperly serving in the role.

Federal judges have already disqualified three other Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys who were not confirmed by the Senate.

Before Quiñones took over the Brennan investigation, it was assigned to U.S. Attorney David Metcalf, a veteran prosecutor who leads the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Times reported.

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Metcalf was given special authority to prosecute Brennan but failed to advance a case—which both current and former officials have said is weak—and the investigation was transferred to Quiñones this fall.

Over the past few days, Quiñones has begun recruiting line prosecutors in Florida to work on the case, and has taken steps to create a stand-alone national security unit, which is traditionally housed inside the criminal division.

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