The son of former CIA Director John Brennan was arrested and charged with “transportation of child pornography,” according to court documents filed Friday.
Kyle Brennan of Warrenton, Virginia, was charged after an FBI analysis of his cellphone found 88 images that appeared to depict minor girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Virginia.
The FBI’s review of Mr. Brennan’s cellphone found images “that appear to depict minor girls, including prepubescent girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” according to court documents. Pictures included a graphic image of a female toddler and another picture of a “fully nude pubescent minor girl on a locker bench,” who was bound and gagged, the criminal complaint said.
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Mr. Brennan was arrested Friday and was charged with transportation of child sexual abuse material. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
The case originated when Adobe CyberTipline reports flagged accounts linked to him for uploading illicit files involving minors, according to the criminal complaint. In April and June 2024, Adobe submitted two reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding an account allegedly used to upload suspected child abuse material.
Law enforcement in Virginia searched Mr. Brennan’s home in July 2024 and the case was referred to the FBI last month, according to the criminal complaint.
The FBI’s Washington field office is overseeing the investigation, court documents said.
It appears the investigation into Kyle Brennan began separately from the federal probe into his father, who served as President Obama’s CIA director.
John Brennan has been one of the most outspoken critics of President Trump. Mr. Brennan was one of the key officials pushing the now-debunked allegations that Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia to defeat Hillary Clinton.
The older Mr. Brennan accused Trump of undermining American intelligence agencies, with the president retaliating by revoking his security clearance. Since Mr. Trump returned to the White House, John Brennan has become the focus of a criminal investigation examining his role in the Obama administration’s assessment of 2016 election interference, including whether he made false statements to Congress in 2023 about the preparation of an intelligence report.
A separate, broader investigation is examining allegations that former intelligence and law enforcement officials conspired to deprive Mr. Trump of his constitutional rights and prevent him from holding office. Mr. Brennan’s attorney said in September that prosecutors considered the former CIA director a target of the false-statements investigation and a subject of the broader conspiracy probe.
Mr. Brennan has denied wrongdoing and accused the Trump administration of pursuing a politically motivated prosecution.
He was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury in Florida on Oct. 15, but that appearance was postponed following the resignation of prosecutor Joseph DiGenova, a Trump ally who had been overseeing the case.
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