Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard sent at least one criminal referral to the Justice Department seeking investigations of a whistleblower complaint and its handling by the intelligence community watchdog that led to the 2019 impeachment of President Donald Trump, a spokesperson for Gabbard’s office confirmed Wednesday.
To bolster the referral, Gabbard this week released documents that she said exposed a “conspiracy used by Congress to impeach President Trump.”
Gabbard’s office said the released documents show the then intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson did not follow policy in the handling of the whistleblower complaint.
The documents include transcripts of Atkinson’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee in 2019 and notes from interviews with the whistleblower.
CNN has requested comment from Atkinson. The referral was first reported by Fox News.
Atkinson spent 15 years at the Justice Department before serving as inspector general of the intelligence community from 2018 to 2020. Atkinson’s reputation as a straight shooter prompted some lawmakers who were otherwise skeptical of the whistleblower complaint to take the document seriously, CNN previously reported.
Trump fired Atkinson in April 2020, raising concerns that the president was meddling in the work of what are supposed to be independent watchdogs.
Gabbard has used her tenure leading the intelligence community to push political claims by Trump that he was the victim of false allegations tying him and his campaign to Russia.
In recent months, Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe have released documents seeking to undermine the 2017 intelligence assessment that concluded the Russia interfered in the 2016 US election and sought to aid Trump.
Ratcliffe also made a criminal referral targeting John Brennan, the former CIA director.
A ODNI spokesman confirmed the criminal referral to the Justice Department “related to one or more former employees of the intelligence community and their role in the 2019 impeachment of President Trump.”
Asked on News Nation what laws she believes may have been broken, Gabbard on Wednesday said, “I’m leaving it up to the lawyers and the Department of Justice to take a look at this and to determine the specific legal parameters. But it was important for us to refer this along with all of the information that we have, so that the Department of Justice can do exactly that and investigate it.”
Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, denounced Gabbard’s efforts.
“This apparent criminal referral will amount to nothing because no misconduct occurred, but what it will do is chill future whistleblowers from coming forward to Congress with confidence that the law will protect them,” he said in a statement. “I suspect that is precisely the point.”
In recent months, Gabbard has been the subject of a whistleblower complaint of her own.
The current intelligence community inspector general last year notified Congress that it had received the complaint alleging that a highly classified intelligence report had been “restricted for political purposes.”
Gabbard has the denied the claims.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Aleena Fayaz contributed to this report.
