BREAKING: James Comey subpoenaed over Russiagate conspiracy against Trump

The Justice Department has subpoenaed former FBI Director James Comey over his involvement in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 election, a source familiar confirmed to Axios.

Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan were already the subjects of criminal investigations.

Those inquiries examined alleged misconduct related to the drafting of the 2017 ICA and the possibility that false statements were made to Congress.

The 2017 assessment, issued Jan. 6, 2017, concluded that Russia sought to influence the 2016 election to benefit Donald Trump. However, a later declassified review identified procedural anomalies and said the process was rushed, raising longstanding concerns about the report’s credibility.

Last July, Fox News reported that then‑CIA Director John Ratcliffe submitted a criminal referal for Brennan to the FBI after he declassified internal documents showing Brennan pushed for inclusion of the Steele dossier in the ICA. Those documents stated that the CIA consensus had viewed the dossier as unreliable “internet rumor.” The referral led to FBI Director Kash Patel opening parallel investigations into Brennan and Comey.

The declassified “lessons learned” review found that the inclusion of the dossier “ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment.” It also said that the process diverted from standard intelligence protocols.

The initial ICA was “politicized” according to reports and did not accurately reflect earlier assessments. A December 2016 Presidential Daily Brief stated that Russian actors did not alter the election through cyberattacks. That brief said foreign activity was unlikely to have changed vote counts, though it acknowledged efforts to undermine confidence in the process.

Intelligence community communications included a planned FBI dissent to the original PDB, signaling internal disagreement over the public narrative before the ICA’s release.



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