Former CIA Director John Brennan appeared uneasy during an MSNBC interview this week as House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan formally referred him to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.

The referral alleges that Brennan knowingly made false statements to Congress during a May 2023 interview regarding the CIA’s use of the Steele dossier in its assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Jordan sent the referral to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday, citing “significant evidence” that Brennan “knowingly made false statements” before the House Judiciary Committee.

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The letter details how Brennan’s testimony contradicted the official record established by both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the CIA.

“We write to refer significant evidence that former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan knowingly made false statements during his transcribed interview before the Committee on the Judiciary on May 11, 2023,” Jordan wrote.

The referral accuses Brennan of violating federal statute 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which makes it a crime to knowingly and willfully make materially false statements to Congress.

Jordan emphasized that such conduct undermines the constitutional role of legislative oversight.

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“Congress cannot perform its oversight function if witnesses who appear before its committees do not provide truthful testimony.

Making false statements before Congress is a crime that undermines the integrity of the Committee’s constitutional duty to conduct oversight,” Jordan stated.

According to the letter, Brennan’s claim that the CIA was not “involved at all” with the Steele dossier cannot be reconciled with newly declassified documents.

Those records, Jordan said, show that a CIA officer drafted an annex summarizing the dossier, and that Brennan, along with then-FBI Director James Comey, made the final decision to include that information in the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA).

“Brennan’s assertion that the CIA was not ‘involved at all’ with the Steele dossier cannot be reconciled with the facts,” Jordan wrote.

“As the newly declassified documents show, a CIA officer drafted the annex containing a summary of the dossier; Brennan made the ultimate decision, along with then-FBI Director James Comey, to include information from the dossier in the ICA; and, as discussed further below, Brennan overruled senior CIA officers who objected to the inclusion of the dossier material.”

The referral further alleges that Brennan misled Congress by claiming the CIA opposed including the Steele dossier in the ICA.

Jordan’s letter argues that evidence contradicts that testimony, pointing to internal CIA communications and records from the House Intelligence Committee.

John Brennan lied to Congress.

Today, we referred him to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.

Read the full referral here: https://t.co/NG45lgFWgM pic.twitter.com/92BF4BUz4B

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 21, 2025

During his interview on MSNBC with host Nicolle Wallace, Brennan dismissed Jordan’s referral as political retribution.

Wallace asked, “New tactic, same story. What is your response to Jim Jordan getting in the action?”

Brennan replied that Jordan was “getting into the action of Trump’s revenge tour.”

“Well, it’s clear that that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s trying to get into the action of Trump’s revenge tour,” Brennan said.

“As I’ve said several times on this program, as well as in congressional testimony, I’ve cooperated with all these inquiries and investigations of the government.”

“I have explained exactly what transpired during the Russian interference in the 2016 election,” he continued.

“And Jim Jordan now, I think, is trying to twist my words and misrepresent and mischaracterize the facts as a way to play to and be a supplicant to Donald Trump, which is why he’s making this referral now to the Department of Justice.”

Brennan added that the matter had already been reviewed multiple times and claimed his account was consistent with what he described in his memoir.

“But as you pointed out, I’ve said before, this ground has been retread and plowed numerous times. And I even wrote about it in my memoir, exactly what happened there,” Brennan said.

He concluded by denying any wrongdoing. “Why, oh, why would I have any motivation to not tell the truth to Congress about this? Because it’s already a matter of public record,” Brennan said.

The move marks the latest development in ongoing congressional investigations into the origins of the Russia probe and the use of opposition-funded materials in U.S. intelligence assessments.