Brennan says he’s willing to be interviewed by Durham, has ‘nothing to hide’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former CIA Director John Brennan says he is willing to be interviewed by John Durham, the U.S. attorney from Connecticut investigating the origins of the Russia probe, while maintaining that he has “nothing to hide.”
Brennan, speaking with MSNBC, said he has yet to be contacted by Durham but said he would appear for an interview with him and his team of investigators.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I feel very good that my tenure at CIA and my time at the White House during the Obama administration ... that I was not engaged in any type of wrongdoing or activities that cause me to worry about what this investigation may uncover,” Brennan said Friday. “So, I welcome the opportunity to talk with the investigators.”
He added: “I have nothing to hide. I have not yet been interviewed by any of those individuals involved in this matter but I’m willing to do so.”
Brennan went on to say that he believes "the American public have been misled by Donald Trump, by William Barr and others.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“And so I look forward to the day when the truth is going to come out and the individuals who have mischaracterized what has happened in the past will be shown to have deceived the American people,” he said.
Brennan called Durham a “well-respected individual from the Justice Department.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I'd like to think that John Durham and the other DOJ and FBI investigators will continue to honor their oath of office and to carry out their responsibilities without any consideration of political interests of Donald Trump,” Brennan said.
Brennan’s comments come amid widespread speculation about the status of Durham's probe, especially after the Justice Department moved to dismiss the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn amid concerns about the handling of his FBI interview.
Durham is investigating the origins of the FBI’s original Russia probe, which began in July 2016, through the presidential transition period and the appointment of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last week, a list of top Obama administration officials who purportedly requested to “unmask” the identity of Flynn during the presidential transition period was declassified and released to the public.
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The roster features top-ranking figures including Brennan, then-Vice President Joe Biden, then-FBI Director James Comey, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Obama's then-chief of staff Denis McDonough.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The declassified “unmasking” list specifically showed officials who “may have received Lt. Gen Flynn’s identity in response to a request processed between 8 November 2016 and 31 January 2017 to unmask an identity that had been generically referred to in an NSA foreign intelligence report,” the document, obtained by Fox News, read.
“Each individual was an authorized recipient of the original report and the unmasking was approved through NSA’s standard process, which includes a review of the justification for the request,” the document said. “Only certain personnel are authorized to submit unmasking requests into the NSA system. In this case, 16 authorized individuals requested unmasking for [REDACTED] different NSA intelligence reports for select identified principals.”
The document added: “While the principals are identified below, we cannot confirm they saw the unmasked information. This response does not include any requests outside of the specified time-frame.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The list revealed that, among them, Brennan made two requests, one on Dec. 14 and one on Dec. 15, 2016.
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Data obtained by Fox News shows that thousands of unmasking requests have been fulfilled every year across both the Obama and Trump administrations, reflecting the often routine nature of these requests in intelligence work. The practice is regarded as an important national security tool.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Unmasking occurs after U.S. citizens' conversations are incidentally picked up in conversations with foreign officials who are being monitored by the intelligence community. The U.S. citizens' identities are supposed to be protected if their participation is incidental and no wrongdoing is suspected. However, officials can determine the U.S. citizens' names through a process that is supposed to safeguard their rights. In the typical process, when officials are requesting the unmasking of an American, they do not necessarily know the identity of the person in advance.
Meanwhile, during a separate MSNBC interview last week, Brennan called the declassification of the "unmasking" file an “abominable abuse of authority" and said the actions by the Department of Justice to drop the case against Flynn was “blatant political corruption at the highest levels of U.S. government.”
Flynn’s case has returned to the national spotlight after the DOJ moved to dismiss charges against him of lying to the FBI about conversations with Russia's ambassador, despite a guilty plea that he later sought to withdraw.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump allies claim Flynn was wrongly targeted, and have suggested high-level involvement in an effort to bring him down. Democrats, however, claim the DOJ's decision to abandon the case shows how it has become politicized.
As for Durham’s probe, multiple sources familiar told Fox News that he is expected to wrap up his investigation by the end of the summer.