They're crooked as hell, and maybe they have to pay a price for that.
For nearly a decade, Donald Trump described the investigations that shadowed his first campaign, his first term, and his years out of office with a single word: a witch hunt. He insisted the Russia collusion story was a hoax, that the officials who launched it knew it was a hoax, and that they had weaponized the machinery of federal law enforcement to take down a sitting president. Critics in the press and the legal establishment called it projection, paranoia, and a "grand conspiracy delusion."
In 2025 and 2026, that framing collided with a federal criminal investigation. The Justice Department opened a probe into how the 2016 Russia assessment was built, and more than 150 subpoenas have gone out to former intelligence and law enforcement officials. The lead target is former CIA Director John Brennan. Witnesses have been called before a grand jury in Washington, and prosecutors have signaled that an indictment may follow. The case is the one Brennan's own defense lawyers have named the "grand conspiracy" case. The story Trump told for nine years is no longer just a campaign line. It is an open question now being asked by the Department of Justice itself.
This is a developing story. The investigation is active and contested, no one named here has been convicted of anything tied to the Russia probe, and the Justice Department has already withdrawn and reissued subpoenas once. We will update this page as it develops. Our position is simple: the evidence is now on the record, and we are betting Trump turns out to have been right.
How They Responded: "A Conspiracy Delusion"
"The idea of a single coordinated 'grand conspiracy' against Donald Trump is a delusion. While popular with the online right, the theory has so far failed in the courts, which critics say is proof that no real crime against Trump ever took place."
"The notion that the intelligence community is disloyal is false. The community is filled with skilled professionals committed to providing the president, any president, with the best possible intelligence, often at great personal sacrifice."
Trump Predicted This Prosecution
The Probe Is Real, And It's Active
What was dismissed as a fever dream of the online right is now documented in Justice Department press releases, federal court filings, and the reporting of outlets that have spent years dismissing the claim. The facts below are drawn from primary and on-the-record sources.
- July 2025: Trump's CIA director referred John Brennan to the FBI for potential criminal investigation over the agency's handling of the 2016 Russia assessment, kicking off the probe. Source: National Review
- The Justice Department appointed Trump ally and veteran prosecutor Joe diGenova to lead the investigation into Brennan over the origins of the Russia probe. Source: Fox News
- More than 150 subpoenas have been issued in the investigation, reaching former intelligence and law enforcement officials who served under the prior administrations. Source: MSNBC
- Witnesses cooperating with the probe were subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in Washington, D.C., examining whether Brennan lied to Congress about the CIA's role in the 2016 assessment. Source: CBS News
The Players He Named, And The Setbacks We Won't Hide
The case is named for the men Trump accused, and we report its stumbles as plainly as its progress. The "grand conspiracy" label comes from the defense itself, and the probe has already been pulled back once.
- The case centers on the allegation that Brennan and Obama-era officials "manufactured" the January 2017 assessment, which defense lawyers themselves call the "grand conspiracy" case. Source: CBS News
- In April 2026 the DOJ withdrew its initial round of subpoenas to reconsider timing and method, a reversal critics seized on and supporters called a tactical reset. The probe remains open. Source: CNN
On the Record:
CBS News, reporting on the criminal probe
Former intelligence and FBI officials cooperating with the Justice Department's criminal investigation into ex-CIA Director John Brennan were subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury, in a probe examining whether Brennan and Obama-era officials "manufactured" the 2017 assessment, the case defense lawyers call the "grand conspiracy" case.
View CBS ReportThe Vindication: Trump Named the Players Years Ago
"I think they're crooked as hell, and maybe they have to pay a price for that. I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people, so whatever happens happens."
"Former intelligence and FBI officials cooperating with the Justice Department's criminal investigation into ex-CIA Director John Brennan were subpoenaed over the weekend to testify before a grand jury."
"Trump ally and veteran prosecutor Joe diGenova was tapped to lead the Justice Department probe into former CIA Director John Brennan over the origins of the Russia investigation."
What Has Surfaced Since Trump Returned
For years Trump's "witch hunt" claim was written off as a conspiracy delusion. Since his return, it has moved from a rally line to a federal criminal matter. The CIA reviewed the tradecraft behind the 2017 Russia assessment and found it compromised, the Director of National Intelligence declassified documents she called evidence of a "years-long coup," and the Department of Justice opened a grand jury investigation. The claim critics mocked is now the subject of a live federal probe.
DOJ Opens a Grand Jury Investigation (August 2025)
In August 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors to open a grand jury investigation into allegations of a conspiracy dubbed "Russiagate," following a criminal referral from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The referral centered on a memorandum alleging Intelligence Community suppression of intelligence about the 2016 election. The "witch hunt" Trump described for years is now a formal federal criminal proceeding.
View Source, CNNThe CIA Faults the 2017 Assessment's Tradecraft
A lessons-learned review ordered by CIA Director John Ratcliffe examined the 2017 intelligence assessment on Russian interference and found the inclusion of the Steele dossier "implicitly elevated unsubstantiated claims to the status of credible supporting evidence, compromising the analytical integrity of the judgment." The review cited a rushed timeline and reliance on Democratic-funded opposition research, faulting the very process critics had insisted was beyond question.
View Source, CNNDNI Declassifies Documents Alleging a "Coup"
In July 2025, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified and released intelligence documents she described as evidence of a "treasonous conspiracy" and "years-long coup" by top Obama-administration officials. Whatever the ultimate legal outcome, the once-fringe framing that the investigation into Trump was itself the scandal is now the stated position of the nation's top intelligence official and the basis of the DOJ referral.
View Source, CNNFinal Analysis
Final Analysis
For years, the phrase "grand conspiracy" was used by Trump's critics as a punchline. It was shorthand for a theory they said only the most credulous corners of the internet believed: that a coordinated network of intelligence and law enforcement officials had deliberately set out to sabotage Donald Trump. The same outlets that mocked the idea are now reporting its progress through a federal grand jury, subpoena by subpoena.
The pattern Trump described is the pattern now under investigation. He named John Brennan, James Comey, James Clapper, and Andrew McCabe. He said they had spied on his campaign, misled the courts, and abused their authority to damage him. Whatever the ultimate legal outcome, the central claim that these officials engaged in coordinated, prosecutable conduct is no longer being adjudicated only in the court of public opinion. It is before a sitting federal grand jury, with a lead prosecutor installed and more than 150 subpoenas issued.
This is what vindication looks like in real time. Trump made a specific, falsifiable accusation when almost no one in official Washington would entertain it. The Department of Justice has now committed the resources of a federal criminal investigation, a reorganized prosecution team, and a grand jury, to the question of whether he was right. The men he accused are the men now under scrutiny. The story that was called a delusion has become a docket.
We are not declaring victory. The probe is contested, career prosecutors have questioned its strength, the subpoenas were pulled back once, and no charge tied to the Russia case has yet produced a conviction. The honest claim is narrower and harder to dismiss: the "grand conspiracy" that critics called a fantasy is now the working theory of a federal criminal investigation, named as such in court by the defense itself. We will update this page as the case develops. Our bet is that Trump turns out to have been right.
