Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department this week relating to former government officials whose actions triggered Donald Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, an escalation of her months-long campaign to relitigate what she calls a “deep state” conspiracy against the former and current president.
Gabbard’s office confirmed the referrals but declined to publicly identify the specific targets or the crimes alleged. Multiple reports identified the whistleblower, a former CIA employee whose complaint about Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched the impeachment inquiry, and Michael Atkinson, the former Intelligence Community Inspector General whose preliminary investigation determined the complaint was of “urgent concern” requiring Congressional notification, as the subjects. Atkinson was fired by Trump in 2020 and has previously said he discharged his duties faithfully and without partisan bias.
The referrals followed Gabbard’s declassification and release on April 13 of investigative materials from Atkinson’s preliminary review, which she presented as evidence of politically motivated misconduct. She framed the disclosure in sweeping terms: “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.”
Her official statement...
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