John Brennan’s Role in the FBI’s Trump-Russia Investigation

In very broad terms, here is what I think probably transpired:

Brennan used unofficial intelligence – from unofficial channels – to establish a Multi-Agency Task Force.

Brennan fed this information to the FBI as a tactic to push the FBI into starting their July 2016 Counterintelligence Investigation.

Some of this unofficial intelligence originated from foreign sources – particularly Britain’s GCHQ. Some came through illegal FISA Section 702 searches conducted by the FBI and NSD.

This unofficial intelligence – both foreign and Section 702 – proved insufficient to obtain a FISA Warrant in June/July 2016.

This didn’t stop the FBI from proceeding with their July 31, 2016 Counterintelligence Investigation into Russia-Trump.

But the Electronic Communication (EC) used to start the FBI’s Counterintelligence Investigation contained no Official Intelligence. The EC was a stop-gap measure only. The FBI needed more. They needed a FISA Warrant.

The Steele Dossier was created to serve as a laundering device for both types of previously gathered information – illegal Section 702 searches and unofficial foreign intelligence.

Carter Page’s July 2016 Moscow trip coupled with Page’s involvement in the Buryakov case presented the FBI with a fortuitous and unique opportunity.

Page was not present in the first Steele document dated June 20, 2016, but was added into subsequent documents produced in July 2016.

Note: In reality, there was no “Dossier” until it was fully compiled in December 2016. There was only a sequence of documents from Steele. Documents that were passed on individually – as they were created.

Therefore, from the FBI’s legal perspective, they didn’t use the Dossier. They used individual documents.

Data previously gathered – Section 702 and unofficial foreign intelligence – was combined with allegations relating to Page’s July 2016 Moscow trip and information the FBI held regarding Page’s involvement in the Buryakov case.

Documents from the reformulated “Dossier” were then used to obtain the October 2016 FISA Warrant.

The FISA Warrant provided retroactive cover for opening the FBI Counterintelligence Investigation and the illegal Section 702 searches.

Brennan and Clapper then used the Intelligence Community Assessment to push the Russian Narrative so prevalent in 2017.

Concurrently, information from illegal Section 702 “About” queries was disseminated into intelligence channels and leaked to the media.

Brennan first began to attract my attention during his May 23, 2017 House Intelligence Committee Testimony. With hindsight, there was much to be gleaned.