Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s office has reportedly referred at least two former Intelligence Community members to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution over their roles in advancing the 2019 impeachment of President Trump.
Former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who was found by Gabbard’s office to not have followed proper procedure before sending a whistleblower complaint about Trump’s infamous July 2019 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Congress, was one of the people hit with a criminal referral, Fox News reported Wednesday.
The whistleblower, who reportedly went to Democratic lawmakers about Trump’s phone call before filing a complaint, was also referred for potential prosecution, the outlet reported.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed to The Post that a criminal referral was sent to DOJ “related to one or more former employees of the Intelligence Community and their role in the 2019 impeachment of President Trump.”
The referrals, written up by ODNI’s general counsel, reference “possible criminal activity” related to Atkinson’s discussions and briefings with the House Intelligence Committee in 2019.
They also come days after Gabbard released a trove of newly declassified documents revealing the flimsy work, biased evidence and lack of firsthand accounts Atkinson used to advance the 2019 impeachment of Trump.
The documents included transcripts of the former inspector general’s closed-door testimony with the House Intelligence Committee, which were withheld from House lawmakers handling the Trump impeachment inquiry.
“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 said in a statement upon releasing the documents.
“Inspector General Atkinson failed to uphold his responsibility to the American people, putting political motivations over the truth. And this, along with the politicization of the whistleblower process by a former CIA employee who was working hand in glove with Democrats in Congress, are egregious examples of the deep state playbook on how to weaponize the Intelligence Community.”
Gabbard added: “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.”
The DOJ did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.