Former CIA Director John Brennan was seen repeatedly jabbing a man in the chest after being confronted about the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.
Thomas Speciale, a national security consultant, posted a video on X showing a confrontation with Brennan at a conference on Thursday.
Speciale, who had questioned Brennan during a Q&A, was later seen asking Brennan why he signed the infamous letter from 51 intelligence officials, knowing that the Hunter Biden laptop was real and not Russian disinformation.
The two men are seen approaching each other, with Brennan then jabbing the consultant in the chest with his right index finger.
"You misrepresented that," Brennan, 70, snapped at Speciale. "We never said it was disinformation; we said it was Russian influence operations, which is what they do. There's a big difference."
When Speciale continued pressing him, Brennan waved his hand in anger and declared, "I'm not going to waste my time with you."
He then walked away.
The confrontation came as House Republicans intensified scrutiny of Brennan, one of 51 former intelligence officials who signed an October 2020 statement questioning the authenticity of Hunter Biden's emails, which have since been verified by federal investigators and used in criminal cases against the former president's son.
The New York Post reported the emails suggested Hunter leveraged his father's vice presidency to pursue lucrative foreign business deals, particularly in Ukraine.
Within days, Brennan and other intelligence veterans issued their letter implying the story was part of a Kremlin effort to influence the election.
Mainstream media outlets such as Politico amplified the letter with headlines asserting the laptop was "Russian disinformation," giving then-candidate Joe Biden cover during a critical presidential debate.
Social media giants followed suit. Twitter blocked users from sharing the story and even locked the Post's account.
Since then, multiple signatories have sought to distance themselves from the "disinformation" narrative, saying the letter merely expressed suspicion of Russian influence rather than declaring the story false.
Still, the letter's release and the media spin it created helped bury potentially damaging revelations about the Biden family weeks before Election Day.
Now, Brennan faces renewed legal pressure.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, last month referred Brennan to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, accusing him of lying to Congress about the CIA's role in shaping the 2017 intelligence assessment of Russian election interference.
Jordan alleged Brennan "willfully and intentionally" made false statements under oath about the agency's use of the Steele dossier, a since-discredited, Clinton-funded opposition research document.
Jordan's referral cited declassified records showing Brennan personally approved including Steele's material in the report, despite internal objections about its credibility.
"The Committee cannot perform its oversight function if witnesses who appear before it do not provide truthful testimony," Jordan wrote.
Brennan, who led the CIA under former President Barack Obama, has brushed off the allegations and said he will not be intimidated.
"I'm not going to be intimidated by the likes of Donald Trump," Brennan told MSNBC in late September.
"Clearly, there is a corruption and a perversion of the justice system right now within the executive branch."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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