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Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered Justice Department prosecutors to begin presenting evidence to a federal grand jury as part of an investigation into whether Obama-era officials committed crimes while assessing Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, a senior Trump administration official confirmed Monday.
The letter, first reported by Fox News, does not specify who is being investigated, what charges might be pursued, or where the grand jury will convene. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations, said no timeline has been set for the panel to begin hearing evidence.
The investigation comes weeks after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, accused Obama administration officials of engaging in a “treasonous conspiracy” against former President Donald Trump. Gabbard said at a White House news conference that she had sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department targeting several former intelligence and law enforcement leaders.
Background
Trump and his allies have long alleged that intelligence agencies and law enforcement officials exaggerated Russia’s efforts to help Trump win the presidency in 2016 as a way to undermine his campaign and first term. He has repeatedly targeted former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, and other officials, accusing them of orchestrating what he calls a “hoax.”
In contrast, a 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report — backed by Republicans, including then-acting committee chair Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida — found Russia had conducted a sweeping influence campaign in 2016 aimed at boosting Trump and damaging Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The report, spanning over 1,000 pages, found no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Moscow but firmly backed the intelligence community’s conclusions regarding Russia’s intent.
Legal and Political Fallout
Legal experts and former officials were quick to criticize the grand jury probe as politically motivated.
“There’s no logical, rational basis for this,” said a former senior national security official who requested anonymity. A former top Justice Department official called the move “a dangerous political stunt.”
The Justice Department declined to comment on the matter. The letter signed by Bondi authorizes an unnamed federal prosecutor to begin presenting evidence to a grand jury with the goal of securing indictments, the administration official said.
The probe is the latest example of Trump and his allies using government institutions to investigate political adversaries. Critics argue the administration is attempting to rewrite the historical record of 2016 and retaliate against those who challenged Trump’s legitimacy.
Broader Context
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s 22-month investigation found Russia did attempt to interfere in the 2016 election, primarily through disinformation campaigns and hacking. While Mueller found insufficient evidence to charge members of Trump’s team with criminal conspiracy, the investigation did result in multiple indictments and convictions of Trump associates on other charges.
Trump’s own appointee, special counsel John Durham, investigated whether the Russia probe was improperly opened. After a three-year inquiry, Durham found no evidence of a criminal conspiracy by Obama officials. He brought only one guilty plea—unrelated to any broader plot—and failed to win convictions in two other cases brought to trial.
Still, Trump and many conservative media figures have remained unsatisfied, demanding more aggressive prosecutions. The new grand jury effort appears aimed at reigniting those grievances.
Democratic lawmakers say it’s a distraction from mounting pressure over the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Trump, Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel have faced growing scrutiny from conservative outlets and influencers demanding transparency on Epstein-related records.
Next Steps
It remains unclear how the grand jury investigation will proceed, or what evidence prosecutors intend to present. No indictments have been issued, and legal experts caution that the move may ultimately serve more political purposes than legal ones.
A lawyer for Comey did not respond to a request for comment. Brennan, now an NBC News contributor, has previously denied any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Trump has continued to call for the arrest of former President Barack Obama and others, posting AI-generated images of Obama in jail and depicting his political opponents in prison garb.
Whether the grand jury probe yields criminal charges or fizzles out like past efforts remains to be seen. But it signals the Trump administration’s intent to continue casting doubt on the legitimacy of the Russia investigations — and to punish those involved in them.
