Politics

FBI Agents Are Questioning CIA Officers About How the 2017 Russia Assessment Was Made

By Mike Harper · May 13, 2026

The 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment that concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election — the document that shaped years of national political debate, launched the Mueller investigation, and became a permanent fixture in the argument over what happened in that election — is now itself under investigation.

FBI agents have begun interviewing current and former CIA officers about the role former CIA Director John Brennan played in producing the assessment, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the inquiry. The interviews are part of a broader DOJ investigation into whether Brennan shaped or politicized the intelligence conclusions in the assessment — which determined that Russia had conducted an influence campaign designed to help Trump win the 2016 election.

Brennan has denied any politicization. He said Tuesday that the assessment was the product of professional intelligence analysts working from classified evidence, not a political document shaped by leadership preferences.

The DOJ investigation is not new — it was opened in Trump’s first term and has proceeded slowly through multiple administrations. What is new is the active FBI interview phase, which signals the probe has moved from document review into witness testimony. That transition typically indicates investigators believe they have identified specific conduct they want witnesses to address, and are building a record toward either charges or a formal conclusion.

The timing is notable. Brennan and Trump have been public adversaries since before the 2016 election — Trump revoked Brennan’s security clearance in 2018, an action that was eventually reversed. Brennan has appeared on television regularly to criticize Trump administration foreign and domestic policy. The investigation of Brennan is the kind of action Trump has specifically and repeatedly called for in public and private, raising questions among civil libertarians about whether the probe is driven by evidence or by political pressure.

The intelligence community has consistently defended the 2017 assessment as accurate. A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee investigation — completed in 2020 — confirmed its core conclusions and found that Russian interference was real and substantial. The Mueller investigation produced 37 indictments and multiple convictions tied to Russian interference activities the assessment described.

What the FBI’s current interviews are seeking to establish is whether the conclusions were skewed or predetermined — whether the intelligence process that produced them reflected genuine analytical judgment or reflected what senior officials wanted to find. That is a serious question if the evidence supports it. It is also the kind of question that can be used to undermine well-founded conclusions if the investigation is not conducted impartially.

The sources who spoke to Reuters did not indicate whether the probe is expected to result in charges.