Judicial Watch has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the CIA seeking former Director John Brennan’s unredacted handwritten notes and related records from 2016 White House briefings that referenced intelligence about a Hillary Clinton campaign plan to link Donald Trump to Russia.
The group says the CIA failed to respond to an August 2025 FOIA request seeking Brennan’s notes from the August 3, 2016 White House briefing, along with unredacted portions of responses from Barack Obama and then-FBI Director James Comey that remain partially blacked out in public versions of the Durham report.
The lawsuit follows earlier disclosures showing heavily redacted notes indicating Brennan briefed Obama on intelligence alleging approval of a Clinton-linked effort to promote a Trump-Russia narrative during the 2016 election cycle.
According to Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 report, Brennan “personally received” the intelligence in July 2016 and later briefed senior officials in the White House Situation Room, including Obama, the vice president, the attorney general, and then-FBI Director James Comey, during discussions on alleged Russian election interference efforts. The report states Brennan’s handwritten notes and recollections referenced intelligence tied to the so-called “Clinton Plan” material.
Read the Judicial Watch Press Release
