Brennan maintained that the strikes were causing little or no "collateral damage." But that claim was contradicted by human rights observers and a study by the Bureau for Investigative Journalism which found that there was a substantial civilian death toll from the missile attacks.
Legal observers have also charged that the drone warfare program is illegal when it is carried out in countries where the United States is not at war. That would include Pakistan and Yemen. Critics have also maintained that it is unconstitutional for the drone strikes to be targeting American citizens --- which has taken place on several occasions. The most notable example of this was the drone killing of Al Qaeda militant Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in 2011. He was an American citizen, born in New Mexico. Awlaki's son, also an American citizen, was later killed by an errant missile strike, intended for someone else.
It is illegal under the Constitution to take the life of an American citizen without due process of law. CIA and military officials argued that it would've been extremely difficult to capture al-Alwaki and then bring him to the United States for prosecution. That claim has been disputed by opponents of the program however, who said military personnel had the means to capture him.
Since Trump took office in January of last year, questions have also arisen about whether Brennan has been entirely candid about what he knew about the infamous "Russian dossier" ---- which alleged that there were connections between candidate Donald Trump and Russian officials prior to the 2016 U.S. election and that Russia interfered with the election to benefit Trump. The dossier was a key part of the information that was submitted by the FBI to the FISA court in 2016 and 2017 to obtain warrants to spy on members of the Trump campaign team.
Brennan has maintained in testimony given in May 2017 before the House intelligence committee and in press interviews that he didn't know that much about the dossier and its contents prior to the election. He told Chuck Todd on Meet the Press early this year that during the fall of 2016 prior to the election he had "heard only snippets" about the contents of the dossier, based on press reports. He said he had never actually read the dossier until late that year.
But according to a report in Real Clear Investigations by Paul Street on February 11, investigators working with Republicans on the House Intelligence committee believe that Brennan was well aware of the contents of the dossier and its allegations against Trump prior to the election and that he actively tried to spread the information to members of Congress.
"John Brennan did more than anyone to promulgate the dirty dossier," said an investigator who talked with Street. "He politicized and effectively weaponized what was false intelligence about Trump."
Street said that Capitol Hill sources told him that Brennan fed allegations about Trump-Russia contacts directly to the FBI and pressured the Bureau to investigate Trump campaign figures in the summer of 2016.
The House Intelligence panel, led by the Republican majority voted recently to end their inquiry into whether Trump had colluded with the Russians prior to the election. The committee report stated that they had found no evidence to support the claim of collusion or conspiracy with the Russians. But members of the Democratic minority strongly protested this report and said that there were still legitimate reasons for continuing the probe.
In signing on with NBC/MSNBC as a contributor, Brennan becomes the latest representative from the intelligence community and the Pentagon to work the TV networks as an analyst. Former CIA deputy director Mike Morell is a contributor with CBS and former NSA director James Clapper is a commentator at CNN. Former generals and high military officials are working with the networks as well, weighing in with analysis about a range of topics including the US role in the Middle East, the proper approach to dealing with North Korea and how to deal with Russia.
The CIA has a long history of making its influence felt with the media.
Going back to the 1940s and 1950s agency officials sought to cultivate leading figures at US newspapers such as the New York Times. They also sought to have agency people work surreptitiously at the papers or at other media outlets. In the 1970s, a Senate committee led by then U.S. Sen. Frank Church investigating abuses by the intelligence community following the Nixon-era Watergate scandals determined that there were CIA assets working at 50 media organizations, either as reporters or as employees in other capacities.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
