Photo: Alamy
Federal prosecutors in Miami have subpoenaed former FBI Director James Comey as part of a Justice Department investigation into actions taken by intelligence officials during the Obama administration, according to a report published Thursday.
CBS News reported that the subpoena was issued as part of a broader probe that began last year and has already resulted in more than 130 subpoenas. Prosecutors have also issued subpoenas to former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page.
McCabe’s attorney, Michael Bromwich, criticized the investigation. “The probe amounts to ‘a vendetta in search of a crime,’” Bromwich told CBS News.
Axios reported that the subpoena relates in part to Comey’s alleged role in the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
That assessment referenced the Steele dossier. According to Axios, a CIA “Tradecraft Review” completed in June under CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the dossier “ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment.”
The investigation also stems in part from a criminal referral by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who alleged a “treasonous conspiracy” by Obama-era officials to undermine Donald Trump.
Former officials named in the probe have rejected the allegations and described the investigation as politically motivated, according to Axios.
Fox News Digital obtained a declassified copy of the Presidential Daily Brief prepared by the Department of Homeland Security for then-President Barack Obama on Dec. 8, 2016.
“We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent US election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure,” the Presidential Daily Brief stated. “Russian Government-affiliated actors most likely compromised an Illinois voter registration database and unsuccessfully attempted the same in other states.”
