New referrals from the intelligence chief target the whistleblower and former inspector general tied to the 2019 Ukraine impeachment proceedings.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has submitted criminal referrals to the Department of Justice involving individuals connected to the 2019 impeachment of Donald Trump, including the whistleblower whose complaint initiated the inquiry and a former intelligence watchdog, according to a Fox News report.
The referrals, sent by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, identify Eric Ciaramella and former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson as subjects of potential investigation tied to their roles in the events surrounding the Ukraine-related impeachment proceedings.
“I want to refer information that may constitute possible criminal activity in violation of federal criminal law committed by one or more former employees of the intelligence community,” the ODNI general counsel wrote in correspondence reviewed by Fox News Digital. The referral cites congressional briefings from 2019 involving Atkinson and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The development follows recent actions by Gabbard to declassify materials connected to the impeachment process. According to officials, the documents had been held within a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility during the tenure of then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.
Separately, the House Intelligence Committee voted this week to release transcripts from 2019 briefings involving Atkinson, further expanding public access to information related to the investigation.
The original whistleblower complaint, filed in August 2019, raised concerns about a July 25 phone call between Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky. The complaint alleged that Trump had pressured Ukraine’s leader to pursue investigations tied to political rivals, forming the basis for impeachment proceedings later that year.
At the time, procedural changes to the whistleblower submission process drew scrutiny. The Intelligence Community Inspector General’s office had modified complaint standards to allow for information obtained through indirect sources, a shift that Atkinson later defended.
In prior statements, Atkinson acknowledged that adjustments to internal guidelines occurred during the period when the complaint was filed, though the circumstances surrounding those changes have remained a subject of ongoing review.
The Justice Department has not publicly commented on the referrals. It remains unclear whether the submissions will lead to formal investigations or additional legal action.
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