NEW YORK (AP) — John O. Brennan, the former CIA director and longtime intelligence official, is working on a memoir.
Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers, confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that it had acquired Brennan’s book. According to Celadon, Brennan will cover his more than 30 years in government under Republican and Democratic presidents, including his time as CIA director from 2013-2017. The book is currently untitled and scheduled to come out in 2020.
“For many years, John Brennan has been a witness to, and participant in, key moments in recent American history, including such pivotal events as the first Gulf war, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Arab Spring, the hunt for Bin Laden, and Russia’s aggressive efforts to undermine U.S. national security,” Celadon president and publisher Jamie Raab said in a statement. “His memoir promises to provide candid accounts of the milestones and events that have shaped his life and career, as well as the lessons in integrity and leadership that have always informed his actions.”
Brennan, 63, has become a prominent critic of President Trump, who in August said he was revoking Brennan’s security clearance. Earlier this week, Brennan responded to Trump’s ongoing attacks against special counsel Robert Mueller by tweeting that the president’s “feelings of inferiority, insecurity, vulnerability, and culpability are loud & clear.” Brennan wrote that Trump reminded him “of how many corrupt authoritarian leaders abroad behaved before they were deposed.”
Brennan himself was a controversial figure before the Trump administration. His appointment by Barack Obama as CIA director was challenged by the ACLU and other civil liberties and human rights advocates over his central role in Obama’s use of drones to kill suspected terrorists and his time with the CIA during the George W. Bush administration, when suspects were sent to other countries and tortured — what was sometimes called “enhanced interrogation.” Brennan has condemned the use of waterboarding, but also said CIA interrogations that was useful and was used in the ultimate operation to go against Bin Laden.”
Financial terms for Brennan’s memoir were not disclosed. As with other former intelligence officials, his book will be subject to government review.
