The Department of Justice has finally opened new investigations into several high-profile Democratic leaders, adding to mounting legal pressure on longtime establishment figures that critics say are the embodiment of “The Swamp” in Washington, D.C.
The DOJ is preparing to issue grand jury subpoenas as part of a South Florida-based investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan and his role in the FBI’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, multiple outlets reported Thursday.
The investigation comes two years after a special counsel appointed by then-Attorney General Bill Barr found no criminal wrongdoing by Brennan.
A White House spokesman confirmed the existence of a grand jury investigation in August. Fox News reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the probe based on a criminal referral from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Conservative attorney Mike Davis, who advises the White House and the Justice Department, has said in recent weeks that the Florida grand jury will consider whether top Obama and Biden officials engaged in an illegal conspiracy to violate Trump’s rights through the Russia investigations and the probes by special counsel Jack Smith.
Brennan has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He has separately been accused by the House Judiciary Committee of lying to Congress, an allegation he also disputes.
In a separate case, the DOJ has reportedly opened a corruption probe into Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser over Qatar funding. The Justice Department reportedly began to scrutinize the mayor’s overseas travels after local D.C. news channel WJLA reported that Qatar paid $61,930 for flights to Doha and Dubai for the mayor and four of her staff in 2023.
Bowser’s team allegedly kept poor financial records of her trip to Qatar and other flights around the United States and other foreign countries. WJLA reported there was no record of a donation agreement between the mayor’s office and Qatar, which is required by law.
“We have checked with our lawyers, and the District has not been notified of any investigation. This was a business trip; DC representatives regularly travel to promote Washington as a destination for investment and growth. This regular work has helped bring investment, infrastructure, new business, new grocery stores, growth, and jobs to the District,” Bowser’s office said in a statement.
“In some cases, economic development funds are used for the business travel; in other cases, the host or organizer cover the expenses,” the statement continued.
The investigations follow a broad series of legal actions that have targeted controversial Democratic Party officials.
Former FBI Director James Comey in facing trial on January 5, 2026, after pleading not guilty to criminal charges of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump and his company for fraud while former President Joe Biden was in office, is scheduled for trial on January 26, 2026 over felony bank fraud charges related to a 2020 home purchase in Norfolk, Virginia.
Both Comey and James have also denied wrongdoing and accused the Trump administration of political retribution.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform also recently released a report titled “The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House.”
The report exposed how Biden’s top advisors, political operatives, and personal physician allegedly conspired to conceal the President’s mental and physical decline from the American people.
The report claims that as President Biden’s condition deteriorated, his aides exercised presidential authority and signed executive actions without his direct authorization, including the misuse of the infamous autopen.
“Executive actions performed by Biden White House staff and signed by autopen are null and void. We are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a thorough review of these executive actions and scrutinize key Biden aides who took the Fifth to hide their participation in the cover-up. The D.C. Board of Medicine must also review the actions taken by President Biden’s physician to hide his true condition. We have provided Americans with transparency about the Biden Autopen Presidency, and now there must be accountability,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer said in the report.