Former CIA director John Brennan warned on MSNBC’s The Weekend on Sunday that Russians see Republican lawmakers as “tools” for their “exploitation.”
Sunday’s conservation surrounded the indictment of ex-FBI informant Alexander Smirnov. Smirnov was charged last week with making false statements and manufacturing false records concerning the Biden family’s business dealings in Ukraine, with the Department of Justice (DOJ) arguing that he should remain in custody due to his alleged ties with Russian intelligence agencies.
Smirnov was a crucial source in the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Representative James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, and Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, have been leading a probe into Biden’s alleged involvement in his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. The White House has repeatedly denied that the president had anything to do with his son’s dealings.
Michael Steele, co-host of The Weekend and former chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), said to Brennan on Sunday: “The sheer incompetence behind what we see these members who are sitting on important committees that have this information—what is the impact inside of the various agencies or intel agencies when they see members taking intelligence and using it this way?”
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“I think it’s very much appalling to my former colleagues who worked so hard to try to protect our country’s national security,” Brennan, who is also an MSNBC senior national security and intel analyst, responded. “But then we have Republican lawmakers right now, who are using things like this as a way to attack a president and quite unfairly.”
Brennan added that Russian officials view GOP Congress members as “tools” in their information operations.
“I think that my colleagues are concerned that the Russians see the Republican lawmakers as tools. They are so willing to accept anything, and Russians use information operations very effectively. And I have no doubt at all that they are going to continue to use it in this presidential election.
“And the fact that Comer and Jordan and others willingly accept these things, and they don’t care whether it’s true or not as long as it’s salacious, as long as it’s something they can use. This is something that the Russian’s recognize is ready for their exploitation,” he said.
Newsweek reached out to Comer and Jordan’s office, as well as the White House, via email for comment.
Jordan has said that the recent revelations involving Smirnov doesn’t change the fundamental facts driving Biden’s impeachment inquiry. Meanwhile, Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who is a ranking member on the Oversight committee, said that the impeachment inquiry has “essentially ended.”
Biden addressed Smirnov’s indictment last week and told reporters: “He is lying,” adding that the impeachment probe against him “should be dropped, and it’s just been an outrageous effort from the beginning.”
Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement: “For months we have warned that Republicans have built their conspiracies about Hunter and his family on lies told by people with political agendas, not facts.”
Meanwhile, some Republicans have stalled funding for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. The Senate passed a $95.34 billion foreign aid package earlier this month that includes $61 billion for Ukraine, but House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who opposes additional Ukrainian aid, has yet to put it on the House floor for a vote.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.