Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department related to a whistleblower complaint about the 2019 effort to impeach President Donald Trump.
This comes after Gabbard ordered the release of transcripts and other investigative material regarding the impeachment attempt.
From CNN:
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard sent at least one criminal referral to the Justice Department seeking investigations of a whistleblower complaint and its handling by the intelligence community watchdog that led to the 2019 impeachment of President Donald Trump, a spokesperson for Gabbard’s office confirmed Wednesday.
To bolster the referral, Gabbard this week released documents that she said exposed a “conspiracy used by Congress to impeach President Trump.”
Gabbard’s office said the released documents show the then intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson did not follow policy in the handling of the whistleblower complaint.
The documents include transcripts of Atkinson’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee in 2019 and notes from interviews with the whistleblower.
CNN has requested comment from Atkinson. The referral was first reported by Fox News.
Atkinson spent 15 years at the Justice Department before serving as inspector general of the intelligence community from 2018 to 2020. Atkinson’s reputation as a straight shooter prompted some lawmakers who were otherwise skeptical of the whistleblower complaint to take the document seriously, CNN previously reported.
Trump fired Atkinson in April 2020, raising concerns that the president was meddling in the work of what are supposed to be independent watchdogs.
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🚨 TRUMP WAS RIGHT AGAIN LAST NIGHT!
— THE SKY WALKER (@THESKYWALK3) April 16, 2026
Tulsi Gabbard just referred the 2019 impeachment whistleblower to the DOJ for criminal investigation.
This is the same person who helped spark the entire Russia/Ukraine HOAX years ago.
Now that individual is finally in the crosshairs and real… pic.twitter.com/pKPV8xykh4
Gabbard released declassified information tied to the whistleblower complaint that triggered the impeachment effort. Her office explained that the records showed Atkinson relied on secondhand accounts of the phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He interviewed only four people and did not bother to seek the transcript of the phone call during his preliminary review.
Still, he pushed the complaint to Congress after the Justice Department said it did not meet the legal standard for handing the matter over to the legislature. Fox News noted that the material showed that the whistleblower had no firsthand knowledge of the call and even communicated with staff working for Democratic lawmakers with the House Intelligence Committee before filing the complaint.
🚨 BREAKING: DNI Tulsi Gabbard refers Deep State intel officials to DOJ for possible CRIMINAL violations tied to the 2019 Trump impeachment sham!
— PiolyUpdates (@PiolyUpdates) April 16, 2026
She’s swinging the sledgehammer at the coup plotters.🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/ODQIUcRAlE
Reactions to the revelations were predictably divided along party lines. Folks on the right said it was proof that the impeachment effort was a political stunt to attack Trump. On the left, people argued that Gabbard was using her position to reignite Trump’s old grievances and attack former officials.
The impeachment effort was based on the allegation that Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden.
It was clear from the moment Democrats announced the impeachment that it was about politics, not wrongdoing. There was never any evidence that Trump committed a “high crime or misdemeanor” involved. This was always about attacking a political opponent — and the new information seems to support that contention, so it is no wonder folks on the right feel vindicated.
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