US President Donald Trump has accused former FBI director James Comey and ex-CIA chief John Brennan, two prominent critics under criminal investigation, of being "crooked" and said they may have to "pay a price."
Asked on Wednesday about the FBI's opening of a probe into Comey and Brennan, Trump said he knows "nothing about it other than what I read today."
"But I will tell you I think they're very dishonest people," the president told reporters at the White House. "I think they're crooked as hell and maybe they have to pay a price for that."
Fox News Digital first reported the probe into Comey and Brennan, saying it involved "potential wrongdoing" related to the investigation into claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election won by Trump, and alleged false statements made to Congress.
CIA director John Ratcliffe, a Trump appointee, had referred "evidence of wrongdoing by Brennan" to FBI director Kash Patel, another Trump appointee, for potential prosecution, Fox News Digital said, citing Justice Department sources.
Comey and Brennan were named to their respective positions as head of the FBI and CIA by former Democratic president Barack Obama, and they have a contentious history with Trump dating back to his first term in the White House.
Trump fired Comey in 2017 as the FBI chief was leading a probe into whether any members of the Trump campaign had colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 presidential vote between Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Trump revoked Brennan's security clearance in 2018, accusing the former CIA chief of making "unfounded and outrageous allegations" about his administration.
Brennan's response
Later, after Trump's comments, Brennan said he knew nothing about the investigation against him and Comey, but slammed it as politically motivated.
"I know nothing about this reported investigation or referral to the DOJ, other than what I've read in these press reports, these leaks, which are not really supposed to happen if there is an investigation going on," Brennan said in an interview with MSNBC in his first public comments on the probes.
Brennan said no one from the Justice Department, FBI or CIA had reached out to him.
"I think this is unfortunately a very sad and tragic example of the continued politicisation of the intelligence community, of the national security process," Brennan said, adding that the investigation "clearly is just politically based."
