Former CIA chief John Brennan suggests Mueller might have some big final indictments coming soon
Former CIA Director John Brennan explained to MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on Tuesday night why President Trump overriding intelligence officials and his own staff to give security clearances to his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner would be such a big deal, as well as an unprecedented one. He also said he heard "a lot of tantalizing tidbits" from Michael Cohen's public testimony last week, specifically the still-under-wraps federal criminal investigations involving Trump. And he hazarded a guess about when Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation would wrap up, and how.
"I think Robert Mueller wants to be able to conclude his work and turn over the investigative threads to the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of Virginia, and other jurisdictions as appropriate," Brennan said. "I wouldn't be surprised if, for example, this week on Friday — not knowing anything about it — but Friday is the day that the grand jury indictments come down." And this Friday, he said, is better than next Friday, the Ides of March, for Mueller to hand in "what I think are going to be his indictments, the final indictments, as well as the report that he gives to the attorney general."
Brennan explained he thinks Mueller still has some indictments coming because he hasn't yet addressed possible Russia-related criminal conspiracy by Americans. "I do think also if anybody from the Trump family, extended family, is going to be indicted, it would be in the final act of Mueller's investigation, because Bob Muller and his team knows if he were to do something, indicting a Trump family member, or if he were to go forward with indictment on criminal conspiracy involving U.S. persons, that would basically be the death knell of the special counsel's office," he said, "I don't believe Donald Trump would allow Bob Mueller to continue in the aftermath of those types of actions." Watch below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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