Personnel from the FBI Washington Field Office and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office met with former CIA Director John Brennan at CIA Headquarters on November 3, 2023, to discuss potential expert testimony in the classified-documents prosecution of President Trump.
According to a typed FBI summary prepared five days later, the discussion concerned expert testimony on National Defense Information in an investigation code-named Plasmic Echo, which later became the genesis of Smith’s charges against Trump. No documents were shown during the meeting. Two agents’ handwritten notes attached to the summary were blank except for the date, location, Brennan’s name and the names of government attendees. The summary stated that the original agent notes would be maintained in the attached investigative file.
FBI agents typically take handwritten notes during interviews and later prepare official FD-302 interview reports. The Justice Department’s manual generally advises agents to document witness interviews, take substantive notes of witness contacts and preserve original notes and recordings.
The memos were released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force. The meeting occurred months after Brennan testified before the House Judiciary Committee about the Russia investigation.
Memos: John Brennan Notes / Meeting with John Brennan
