Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard asked the Justice Department to investigate two former government officials who played key roles in President Trump’s first impeachment inquiry.
A spokesperson for Gabbard’s office confirmed she drafted criminal referrals for the whistleblower and former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, but did not specify what crimes were alleged. Whether prosecutors open an investigation after a referral is up to the Justice Department.
The referrals followed Gabbard’s criticism of how Atkinson handled the 2019 whistleblower complaint and her release of a batch of documents linked to him. The whistleblower — whose identity has not been formally disclosed — filed an “urgent concern” alleging that President Trump solicited interference from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. The complaint also raised questions about how records of the Trump-Zelenskyy phone call were handled and about the role of Mr. Trump’s then-personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, in U.S.-Ukraine matters.
“I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” the whistleblower wrote. “This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President’s main domestic political rivals.”
Mr. Trump was impeached by the House in late 2019 and acquitted by the Senate in early 2020, largely along party lines. He has denied wrongdoing, calling his call with Zelenskyy “perfect.”
Gabbard posted on X that “deep state actors” in the intelligence community “concocted a false narrative that Congress used to usurp the will of the American people and impeach duly-elected President @realDonaldTrump in 2019,” and said the inspector general relied on “second-hand evidence.” The documents she released do not provide direct evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
Atkinson was fired by Mr. Trump in 2020. After his removal, he said he had “faithfully discharged” his duties and served without regard to partisan favor or political fear. Atkinson and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The referral was first reported by Fox News.
The criminal referrals are the latest effort by Gabbard and other administration officials to revisit disputes from Mr. Trump’s first term. Last year her office released files related to the intelligence community’s review of Russian interference in the 2016 election, calling them evidence of a “treasonous conspiracy” by Biden-era officials and saying she would forward those documents to the Justice Department. Several figures involved in the Russia investigation, including former CIA Director John Brennan, have been subpoenaed in a separate federal probe in Florida; no charges have been filed.
Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, criticized Gabbard’s referral and defended the 2019 whistleblower, saying the official “demonstrated courage and principle” by exposing Mr. Trump’s “efforts to extort Ukraine and falsely smear his opponent.” Himes warned that the referral “will amount to nothing because no misconduct occurred, but what it will do is chill future whistleblowers from coming forward to Congress with confidence that the law will protect them.”