CIA Review Blasts John Brennan’s Role In Launching Russian Collusion Hoax The June 2025 review, commissioned by Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe in May, scrutinized the “highest classified version” of a December 2016 assessment titled “Russia’s Influence Campaign Targeting the 2016 US Presidential Election.” It finds that the analysis touted by Brennan as evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped to help his preferred political candidate Trump win the 2016 election was rushed, restricted in its access, and then far too widely disseminated for a highly classified report. Further, the report’s developers “marginalize[d]” the National Intelligence Council (NIC) and others to advance a partisan get Trump narrative. In fact, according to the review, the ICA had “a higher confidence level than was justified.” “Central to the judgment that Putin ‘aspired’ to help Trump win was one highly classified CIA report. Brennan had tightly restricted access to this information within CIA; it had been collected in July but not disseminated in CIA serialized reporting until the week of 19 December.” Similarly, the review notes that “media leaks” indicated intelligence agencies “had already reached definitive conclusions risked creating an anchoring bias” before “work on the assessment even began.” The ICA, alleging the Kremlin meddled in U.S. affairs to ensure Trump’s election, was shared in a briefing to President Barack Obama and Trump in January 2017. “The ‘aspired’ judgment did not merit the ‘high confidence’ level that CIA and FBI attached to it,” the review states.