Jack Smith’s Anti-Trump Team Secretly Prepped John Brennan

Former special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers he had “never met” former CIA director John Brennan. Records declassified by the White House show members of Smith’s team met with Brennan while preparing the classified-documents case against President Donald Trump.

Two assistant special counsels working under Smith joined FBI agents for a November 2023 meeting with Brennan at CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia, according to documents declassified Monday. The meeting was held “to discuss expert testimony to National Defense Information in the forthcoming trial,” indicating prosecutors were looking at using the former CIA chief’s national-security expertise as they prepared the case.

Smith appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week as Republicans reviewed his investigations. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley asked whether Smith had ever received “consultation or counsel” from Brennan, including during his time as special counsel.

“Have you ever received any consultation or counsel by John Brennan, former CIA director, whether during your time as special counsel or otherwise? If so, when and for what purpose?” Grassley asked. “I’ve never met John Brennan,” Smith responded.

Grassley’s question was broader than a personal meeting. “This meeting occurred during Jack Smith’s time as Special Counsel and constitutes ‘consultation or counsel’ from John Brennan to Smith and his team,” Grassley told Fox News Digital. “Smith’s response before the Senate Judiciary Committee was highly evasive and misleading, at minimum.”

Grassley returned to the point later in the hearing and asked whether Smith had ever had a conversation with Brennan. “I have no recollection of having a conversation with John Brennan,” Smith responded.

The declassified release also included two pages of notes with CIA headquarters headers. Lines of text beneath Brennan’s name are blacked out, and the rest of the ruled pages are blank.

Brennan was not CIA director during the period covered by the classified-documents case. The released records do not indicate he had firsthand knowledge of Trump’s alleged handling of the documents.

Republicans have accused Smith of overreach in both the Arctic Frost 2020 election probe and the classified-documents case known as “Plasmic Echo,” including records showing the election probe obtained financial information involving thousands of Trump donors and phone records of Republican lawmakers. Smith has rejected claims that his investigations were politically motivated and has said his decisions were driven by the evidence.

Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, who served as counsel for Trump during an impeachment, has called Smith’s work “a partisan weapon that broke the rules, lied to the court and engaged in bad faith throughout.” Fox News Digital said it reached out to attorneys for Smith and to the Justice Department and did not receive a response.