Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department related to a former intelligence community inspector general and a whistleblower whose complaint helped trigger the first impeachment of President Donald Trump.
The whistleblower complaint, deemed credible at the time by then-Inspector General Michael Atkinson, set off a chain of events that culminated in Trump’s impeachment in 2019 for pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate his then-political rival Joe Biden. The Senate later acquitted Trump in a largely party-line vote.
The criminal referral was first reported by Fox News. A spokesperson for Gabbard’s office confirmed to MS NOW that she had sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department but declined to provide further details.
“ODNI can confirm a criminal referral was sent to DOJ related to one or more former employees of the Intelligence Community and their role in the 2019 impeachment of President Trump,” the spokesperson said.
It was not immediately clear what specific criminal statutes may have been cited in the referrals, which do not themselves constitute charges, but ask prosecutors to review whether crimes may have been committed. The Justice Department typically evaluates such referrals to determine whether to open a formal investigation. The identity of the whistleblower has not been publicly disclosed.
Gabbard’s referral, according to Fox News, states, the ODNI wants “to refer information that may constitute possible criminal activity in violation of federal criminal law committed by one or more former employees of the intelligence community.”
“The possible criminal activity concerns the circumstances described in the following congressional briefings: Discussion with Intelligence Community Inspector General, House Permanent Select Comm. on Intel., 116th Cong. (2019); Briefing by the Intelligence Community Inspector General, House Permanent Select Comm. on Intel., 116th Cong. (2019),” it added.
The criminal referrals come two days after Gabbard released documents she said expose a “deep state” conspiracy behind the first impeachment of Trump.
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David Rohde
David Rohde is the senior national security reporter for MS NOW. Previously he was the senior executive editor for national security and law for NBC News.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at CNN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.
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