Tulsi Gabbard’s office has sent criminal referrals to the Department of Justice for the whistleblower whose complaint led to President Donald Trump’s 2019 impeachment.
The whistleblower’s complaint, which was deemed credible by then-Inspector General Michael Atkinson, alleged that the president abused his power by attempting to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election.
The whistleblower claimed that Trump, in a July 2019 phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, tried to pressure the Ukrainian leader to investigate then-former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The House of Representatives would eventually impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December 2019. He denied all accusations, and was acquitted by the Senate in 2020.
In the referral to the Justice Department, the general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence wrote, “I want 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.” CBS News reports that in addition to the whistleblower, the referral asks the DOJ to investigate a former intelligence community watchdog.
The referral was reviewed and reported on by Fox News. The ODNI confirmed to the Daily Beast that a criminal referral relating to “one or more former employees of the Intelligence Community” was sent to the DOJ. It is unclear what specific crimes were alleged, but it is now up to the Justice Department to decide whether to pursue a criminal investigation.
The move comes two days after Gabbard publicized documents that the ODNI claims exposed a “coordinated effort by elements within the Intelligence Community,” including Atkinson, to “manufacture a conspiracy that was used as the basis to impeach President Trump in 2019.”
“Newly-declassified records expose how deep state actors within the Intelligence Community concocted a false narrative that Congress used to usurp the will of the American people and impeach duly-elected President @realDonaldTrump,” Gabbard wrote in an X post on Monday.
“Today, we reveal the truth.”
“Deep state actors within the Intelligence Community concocted a false narrative that was used by Congress to usurp the will of the American people and impeach the duly-elected President of the United States,” Gabbard is quoted as saying in the attached press release.
“Exposing these tactics and showing how they undermine the fabric of our democratic republic furthers the critical cause of transparency and accountability and will help prevent future abuse of power.”
Gabbard also made an appearance on NewsNation on Wednesday night to promote her claims that the “deep state” conspired to impeach Trump.
“It is always the right time to expose the truth to the American people about the deep state tactics that have been used time and time again, fundamentally, to undermine the foundational principles of our republic,” Gabbard told host Katie Pavlich.
Discussing the news on MS NOW’s The Weeknight on Wednesday night, attorney Marc Elias said that the DOJ was “doing Donald Trump’s bidding.”
“They are trying to weaponize the government against Donald Trump’s political opponents.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued in a Tuesday interview with NBC News that Americans should be “happy” with the president’s level of involvement in the DOJ.
“That type of communication from President Trump should make every American happy,” Blanche said, referring to the president posting a seemingly private message instructing then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to go after his political enemies on Truth Social.
“It means that there’s an executive, a chief executive, that is making sure every one of his Cabinet members are working as hard as they should.”
MS NOW notes that the documents include positive descriptions of the whistleblower—whose identity has not been formally disclosed—with one colleague calling them a “star performer,” as well as credible and trustworthy.
The documents published by the ODNI on Monday do not provide evidence of direct coordination, while the department claims that they confirm that Atkinson “failed to conduct basic due diligence and willfully exceeded his statutory jurisdiction to mischaracterize the president’s phone call with Zelensky as an ‘urgent concern’ to Congress.”
Trump fired Atkins in 2020. At the time, Atkins said of his dismissal, “It is hard not to think that the President’s loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial Inspector General.”
A former DOJ official who spoke to MS NOW on condition of anonymity praised Atkinson’s work, calling him an “exceedingly careful and thoughtful attorney and public servant.”
“The notion that he would have engaged in any criminal wrongdoing is preposterous.”
Wednesday’s referrals are the latest example of the Trump administration attempting to litigate the president’s old grudges. In July, Gabbard’s office tried to argue that Democratic officials engaged in a “treasonous conspiracy” against Trump by creating false intelligence assessments that found evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election. No charges have been filed.
The president has also continued to pursue political enemies involved, such as former FBI Director James Comey.
“They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,’” Trump complained in his September Truth Social message to Pam Bondi about Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff.
