By Andrew Goudsward and Jana Winter
WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - A career U.S. prosecutor who had been helping to lead a criminal investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan was removed from the probe, according to two people familiar with the investigation.
Maria Medetis Long, a top prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami, informed attorneys connected to the investigation late on Thursday that she is no longer working on the case, the sources said. The probe is examining whether Brennan made false statements in 2023 congressional testimony about the U.S. intelligence finding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to aid Trump.
It was not immediately clear what led to Medetis Long’s removal from the probe, which was first reported by CNN. The investigation has been ongoing for months.
A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the move and portrayed it as routine DOJ practice.
“Attorneys are moved around on cases so offices can most effectively allocate resources,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “It is completely healthy and normal to change members of legal teams.”
Reuters reported on Thursday that the FBI was planning to interview roughly a half-dozen witnesses, including former U.S. intelligence officials, over the next several weeks as part of the investigation into Brennan.
Brennan, a cable news analyst and longtime critic of Trump, has condemned reported investigations into him as politically biased and a misuse of the legal system. His lawyer has said there is no legal basis for an investigation.
A DOJ official told Reuters on Friday that there had been frustration inside the department with the pace of the investigation. Another source familiar with the investigation said some witness interviews were not expected to take place until June.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has faced pressure to deliver prosecutions of Trump’s perceived political enemies after his predecessor, Pam Bondi, was ousted over Trump’s dissatisfaction with her handling of probes Trump demanded.
Medetis Long is the head of the national security section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami. She was part of the prosecution team that convicted a man at trial last year for attempting to assassinate Trump at his Florida golf club in 2024.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Jana Winter; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
