The Justice Department has removed the lead prosecutor overseeing an investigation involving former CIA Director John Brennan, a longtime critic of President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Maria Medetis Long, a veteran prosecutor for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida, told colleagues in her office that she had recently told her superiors that there was not ample justification to bring criminal charges against Brennan, according to one person briefed on her discussions who asked to speak anonymously due to the sensitivity of internal deliberations. She also told colleagues she expected to withdraw from the case.
Medetis Long sent an email Thursday to attorneys representing clients drawn into the case saying she would no longer be working on the investigation, according to a person with knowledge of her notification.
Medetis Long had agreed weeks ago to help her boss, Miami U.S. Attorney Jason Quinones, probe possible law violations tied to how former President Barack Obama’s Justice Department opened the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to the sources. Medetis Long was specifically focused on probing allegations that Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, referred to the Department of Justice in 2025, claiming he had evidence suggesting Brennan made false statements to Congress in 2023 about that investigation and his role.
The news of Medetis Long’s departure was first reported by CNN.
It was not immediately clear why the prosecutor was reassigned or who will take over the probe.
The Justice Department called it “routine practice” to rearrange attorneys and cases that they are assigned.
“It is completely healthy and normal to change members of legal teams,” the Justice Department said in a statement to MS NOW.
The investigation into Brennan, who served as CIA director under Obama, relates to the 2017 U.S. intelligence assessment that concluded Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump win. Brennan was a central figure in that process, which included the CIA’s referral of concerns about contacts between Russian operatives and Trump campaign advisers.
The 2019 Mueller Report, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, later concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election through hacking and a sweeping social media campaign, and that the Trump campaign welcomed but did not criminally conspire with those efforts.
The president has sparred with Brennan for years. The investigation into Brennan reflects Trump’s DOJ targeting a flurry of his political adversaries. Before news of Medetis Long’s removal, Reuters reported Thursday that the FBI is ramping up the probe into Brennan and plans to interview about six witnesses, including former U.S. intelligence officials, over the coming weeks.
Brennan has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He has maintained that his actions while in government and afterward were lawful despite accusations from Trump and his allies that suggest Brennan abused his authority.
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