Former CIA Director John Brennan offers his first response to current CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s statement this weekend that he’s referred Brennan to the DOJ for prosecution on charges of perjury related to “Russiagate.”

ANA CABRERA, MSNBC: Do you still stand by your conclusion that Russia’s goal was to hurt Clinton and help Trump? JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Absolutely. And all the legitimate reviews that were done of the assessment subsequent to it-including the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a bipartisan, multi-year review-endorsed and said that those conclusions and those findings were accurate. They were based on intelligence. And so there was no dispute about it, except when there are partisans who come out in support of Donald Trump right now. And again, as you pointed out, it’s the lead effort to distract from what’s going on with other issues that the Trump administration is having quite a bit of difficulty with. ANA CABRERA: The current CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, has said he has now referred you and other members of the Obama administration to the Justice Department, accusing you of lying about this. Here’s what he said just a few days ago: “That’s why I’ve made the referrals that I have. DNI Gabbard has made referrals, and why we’re going to continue to share the intelligence that would support the ability of our Department of Justice to make fair and just claims against those who have perpetrated this hoax against the American people and this stain on our country.” Director Brennan, have you been contacted by the DOJ? JOHN BRENNAN: No, I have not been contacted by the DOJ, the FBI, by anybody. I was not contacted by the CIA or the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Nobody has talked to me at all. I have testified repeatedly over the years, consistently, about what we did to expose Russian interference in the 2016 election and the creation and development of that Intelligence Community Assessment. That was done by the analysts who know Russia, who know cyber, who know counterintelligence matters. I didn’t draft that estimate. Jim Clapper didn’t draft that estimate. So again, I’m willing to talk to anybody. And if they want to talk to me-either Congress or the Department of Justice, whatever-I’m ready to do so. ANA CABRERA: The Trump administration says it’s created what they call a strike force to investigate here. What are your concerns about that? Are you worried? JOHN BRENNAN: Well, if the Director of CIA and the Director of National Intelligence make referrals to the Department of Justice, I think the Department of Justice has to do something to respond to it. So putting together an internal strike force that would have to take a look at this information is certainly, I think, understandable. But also, I’d like to think that professionals in the Department of Justice will dismiss any of these referrals because they’re baseless. They really are. So again, I stand ready to continue to talk about the assessment and what we did during that period of time. There was absolutely no conspiracy, and we continue to stand behind what it is that we have said publicly. ANA CABRERA: But do you worry at all that the Trump loyalists who are installed in those key positions could find a way-would find a way-to punish you, regardless of what the evidence reveals? JOHN BRENNAN: Well, I guess they’re going to do what they’re going to do, Ana. I just feel as though what we did was right. It was legitimate. It was based on our authorities and responsibilities. We would have been derelict if we didn’t do these things. So again, I’d just like to think that professionals in the Department of Justice and FBI and other places are not going to carry on this-what I think is an absurd effort to try to denigrate the work of intelligence professionals, as well as the former leaders.

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