Judge Tosses John Brennan's Lawsuit Against Trump as Grand Jury Probes Continue

A federal judge has thrown out former CIA Director John Brennan's lawsuit against President Trump and top administration officials, and the reason she gave was simple: Brennan had not shown he was actually harmed yet.

Judge Jia Cobb, who was appointed by President Biden, ruled that Brennan's worry about the destruction of records he might need for a future criminal defense was too "speculative." She wrote that for his injury to occur, "a series of dominoes must fall," and that deleted records were only one of them. She added that both sides agreed on that chain of events. Cobb did call his claim that the administration was targeting him for opposing the president "deeply concerning," according to Fox News, but she held that he lacked standing to sue.

Brennan filed the 46-page suit July 1, 2026. It named Trump, FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and others, and accused the Justice Department of "unprecedented, irregular conduct" driven by the "president's retribution agenda."

The ruling lands while Brennan is a target in two federal investigations, which have involved three grand jury inquiries: two in the Southern District of Florida and one in Washington. One probe asks whether former intelligence officials conspired to violate Trump's civil rights through their handling of alleged ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia. The other asks whether Brennan made false statements in 2023 congressional testimony about the role of the Steele dossier in a 2017 intelligence assessment. He has not been charged. He was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Oct. 15, though the appearance was postponed.

The lawsuit pointed to several complaints. It cited the reported removal of veteran prosecutor Maria Medetis Long from the case in April after she expressed doubts about its strength, and her replacement by Trump ally Joseph diGenova, who later resigned from the role amid reported internal disagreements. It accused the department of trying to steer the grand jury toward Judge Aileen Cannon, and it questioned why a case rooted in Washington was being pursued in Florida. It also cited Blanche's public remarks about "200 grand jury subpoenas."

Trump has repeatedly called the Russia inquiry a "collusion hoax." Brennan, former President Obama and others reject that and say legitimate intelligence findings are being discredited.

Brennan's lawyers, Ken Wainstein and Dan Gelber, told the AP he "will continue to vigorously defend himself against these baseless investigations." Fox News said it asked the Justice Department for comment.