Election security

Former CIA director Brennan lied to Congress about Steele Dossier, IG report reveals

A dossier of salacious anti-Trump gossip was used to pad out the intelligence community report on supposed Russian election interference, and CIA Director John Brennan may have misled Congress about it, a new report reveals.

According to the Justice Department Inspector General’s report into the FBI’s surveillance of the Trump campaign, the information contained in the now-infamous ‘Steele Dossier’ was used to inform the Obama administration’s Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russia’s “Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections,” published several weeks before President Donald Trump assumed office. 

A summary of the dossier was included in the assessment, former FBI director James Comey told the Inspector General’s office, because Brennan and a cohort of intelligence personnel felt it “important enough and consistent enough” to warrant entry.