BuzzFeed News has obtained a copy of the criminal referral sent to the Justice Department by the intelligence community inspector general with allegations that President Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter in a now-infamous phone call. The letter was signed by former DNI Inspector General Michael Atkinson and sent to Stacey Moy, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, as well as the head of the DOJ’s criminal division, according to BuzzFeed News. In it, Atkinson writes that he “is formally referring allegations received from an individual regarding, among other things, alleged violations of law related to a telephone call on July 25, 2019” between Trump and Zelensky. “This referral is a follow-up to my secure telephone call on August 27, 2019, with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray’s Chief of Staff, Paul B. Murphy, during which I provided to Mr. Murphy a summary of the Complainant’s allegations,” he added.
The Justice Department declined to probe whether Trump’s pressure campaign violated campaign finance laws. Trump was ultimately impeached in the House and acquitted by the Senate on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
