John Durham's investigation as Special Counsel passed on prosecuting ex-CIA chief John Brennan as well as a host of other key Russiagate figures, but there's a new sheriff in town.

Following a criminal referral by CIA Director John Ratcliffe last week, the decision on potentially charging the Obama spy chief will now rest with Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department that she oversees.

Ratcliffe's referral to FBI Director Kash Patel is related to possible criminality by Brennan, sources familiar with Ratcliffe's actions who declined to be named told Just the News this week, following a review by the CIA released last week. That report critiqued the actions taken by Brennan related to the baseless Trump-Russia collusion investigation, and it will likely be up to Bondi to decide if a criminal investigation — and prosecution — is warranted.

The CIA's "lessons learned" review of the December 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment sharply criticized Brennan for joining with anti-Trump forces in the FBI in pushing to include British ex-spy Christopher Steele's baseless anti-Trump dossier in the assessment. In Ratcliffe's review, the CIA also critiqued the "high confidence" assessment by the FBI and the CIA that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had "aspired" to help President Donald Trump win in 2016.

Brennan's potentially false statements

While the specifics of Ratcliffe's criminal referral of Brennan to the FBI were not immediately made public, it is likely that it has to do with Brennan's potentially false statements to Congress about the ICA and the Steele dossier. Brennan spoke with Special Counsel John Durham in August 2020 and testified before the House Judiciary Committee in May 2023. Given a five-year statute of limitations, he could be in the crosshairs of law enforcement action until August of this year or until May 2028, respectively.