Trump says Brennan, Comey 'crooked as hell,' may have to 'pay the price'

President Trump said John Brennan and James Comey might have to “pay a price” for their possible wrongdoing amid the Russia hoax.

“I know nothing about it other than what I read today, but I will tell you I think they’re very dishonest people,” Mr. Trump told reporters Wednesday while meeting with African leaders. “I think they’re crooked as hell, and maybe they have to pay a price for that.”

The FBI launched criminal investigations into Mr. Brennan, who was head of the CIA during the 2016 election, and Mr. Comey, who led the FBI at that time.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe sent the alleged evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Brenna to FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate.

“I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people,” Mr. Trump said. “So whatever happens, happens.”

This comes after Mr. Ratcliffe ordered a “lessons-learned review” of the investigation into Mr. Trump’s debunked ties to Russia during the 2016 campaign.

The new report condemned the way intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election in Mr. Trump’s favor.

The role Russia played in the 2016 election has been looked at several times, aside from the original 2017 assessment.

Special counsel Robert Mueller conducted a nearly two-year-long investigation into Russian interference of the 2016 election, a probe that cost taxpayers nearly $32 million. His findings, released in 2019, found that Russia meddled in the election, but the Trump campaign did not conspire with the Russians.

The Senate Intelligence Committee released its own report in 2020 on Russian interference in the election, with findings similar to the Mueller report.

The allegations were a big part of the president’s first term, even though he vehemently denied any connection to the Kremlin.

In social media posts after the release of the memo, Mr. Ratcliffe said the president “has trusted me with helping to end weaponization of US intelligence.”

He said the report “underscores that the 2017 [Intelligence Community] Assessment was conducted through an atypical & corrupt process under the politically charged environments of former Dir. Brennan & former FBI Dir. Comey.”

In a second post, he said Mr. Brennan, Mr. Comey and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper “manipulated intelligence and silenced career professionals — all to get Trump.”