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 continued: “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.”
Democrats dismissed the documents as failing to support the sweeping claims made about them. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said: “Director Gabbard’s latest claims aren’t about accountability — they’re about rewriting history to serve Donald Trump.” Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said Atkinson was correct to forward the complaint and that the process was followed appropriately.
Trump publicly praised Gabbard’s disclosures on social media after their release, an audience-of-one dynamic that several analysts noted appeared to be a motivating factor in the timing and framing of the intelligence chief’s actions. Separately, Gabbard has been navigating a disagreement with Trump over FISA’s Section 702, reportedly opposing a clean reauthorisation in a February meeting while Trump has declared he supports extending the surveillance authority without amendment.
