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 him 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 the criminal referral to the Justice Department but declined to provide further details.
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 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);...
QUEENSLAND— A nurse in Australia has been formally reprimanded after admitting he submitted forged documents to Qantas (QF) in an attempt to secure a refund for a non-refundable airline ticket. Th...