By Daniel Klaidman
Updated April 17, 2026 / 7:25 PM EDT
The lead career federal prosecutor in Miami who had been overseeing the criminal investigation into whether former CIA Director John Brennan lied to Congress is no longer assigned to the case, multiple sources told CBS News.
Maria Medetis Long, head of the national security section for the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of Florida, informed lawyers with clients tied to the matter late this week that she was off the case, several attorneys confirmed. Medetis Long did not publicly explain the reason for her removal. One source told CBS News the change followed her informing U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones that she did not believe there was enough evidence to bring charges.
CNN first reported the removal, saying Medetis Long had resisted pressure to quickly charge Brennan. A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the personnel change and said Medetis Long remains employed by DOJ. “As a matter of routine practice, attorneys are moved around on cases so offices can most effectively allocate resources,” the spokesperson said, calling such changes “completely healthy and normal.” Medetis Long referred questions to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Among the attorneys now assigned to the probe is Chris DeLorenz, a DOJ official confirmed. Bloomberg Law earlier reported his involvement. DeLorenz previously clerked for U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon and served as an adviser in the deputy attorney general’s office before relocating to Miami to work as an assistant U.S. attorney. The personnel shift comes as the Justice Department seeks to move the Brennan investigation more quickly.
The probe stems from a referral by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee in October, which alleged Brennan lied to Congress about the CIA’s role in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Committee Chairman Jim Jordan alleged Brennan “falsely” denied that the CIA relied on the Steele dossier when drafting the assessment and that the CIA opposed including the dossier. The Steele dossier, compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, contained unverified, salacious allegations about then-candidate Donald Trump.
Federal prosecutors and FBI agents plan to interview a former CIA official as part of the investigation in early May, according to a source. That person is described as a witness, not a target, and has been interviewed previously. Prosecutors have asked about the decision to include the Steele dossier in an annex to the 2017 assessment and about internal CIA disagreements with Brennan over the Obama administration’s conclusions that Russia’s meddling favored Hillary Clinton and harmed Donald Trump. Those events occurred in 2016, outside the statute of limitations, but prosecutors are examining whether Brennan committed perjury when he testified under oath before Congress in 2023.
Former U.S. Attorney Greg Brower criticized the DOJ’s characterization of the move as routine, calling the removal “extremely unusual” and likening it to last year’s ouster of a top federal prosecutor in eastern Virginia after he expressed doubts about evidence in cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The Miami U.S. attorney’s office is also handling a separate referral from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who alleged without evidence that Brennan and other Obama-era officials “manufactured” the 2017 assessment; the status of that inquiry remains unclear. Sources also say the office is reviewing documents related to former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Trump, but the status of that review is likewise unclear.