April 16, 2026.3Min Read.
In a move that has sent shockwaves through Washington, DNI Tulsi Gabbard has sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department targeting individuals at the center of President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. The referrals concern a former intelligence community inspector general and a whistleblower whose complaint helped trigger the first impeachment of President Donald Trump. The action marks one of the most aggressive uses of the DNI office in recent memory, and it is already generating fierce debate across the political spectrum.
To understand why DNI Tulsi Gabbard‘s referral matters, it is necessary to revisit the events of 2019. The whistleblower complaint, deemed credible at the time by then-Inspector General Michael Atkinson, set off a chain of events that culminated in Trump’s impeachment for pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate his then-political rival Joe Biden. Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives in December 2019 and acquitted by the Senate in February 2020. The whistleblower’s identity has never been officially confirmed, though Fox News and other outlets have named a CIA analyst in connection with the complaint.
The referral builds on a document release DNI Tulsi Gabbard made earlier this week. Gabbard released documents she said exposed a “conspiracy used by Congress to impeach President Trump,” and her office said the documents show that then-intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson did not follow policy in the handling of the whistleblower complaint. According to the ODNI’s own press release, the IC IG’s preliminary investigation relied on second-hand information from the self-described “Democrat” whistleblower and two witnesses to justify his determination that the complaint was of “urgent concern.”
The referral builds on a document release DNI Tulsi Gabbard made earlier this week. Gabbard released documents she said exposed a “conspiracy used by Congress to impeach President Trump,” and her office said the documents show that then-intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson did not follow policy in the handling of the whistleblower complaint. According to the ODNI’s own press release, the IC IG’s preliminary investigation relied on second-hand information from the self-described “Democrat” whistleblower and two witnesses to justify his determination that the complaint was of “urgent concern.”
Not everyone is viewing DNI Tulsi Gabbard‘s actions favorably. Critics argue the move amounts to political retaliation against those who followed proper procedures. The documents released earlier this week actually included positive descriptions of the whistleblower, including a colleague describing them as a “star performer,” credible and trustworthy, and a former Justice Department official who worked with Atkinson praised his work. Furthermore, the DOJ previously assessed the whistleblower’s allegations and found no basis for a criminal case, concluding there was “no campaign finance violation” and that “no further action was warranted.” Many legal observers and Democratic voices have characterized the referral as a dangerous precedent of using government power to punish those who reported on a sitting president.
The referral was first reported by Fox News.
The criminal referrals mark the latest effort by Gabbard and other administration officials to revisit political battles from Mr. Trump’s first term. Last year, her office released filesrelated to the intelligence community’s review of Russian interference in the 2016 election, claiming they showed a “treasonous conspiracy” by Biden-era officials.
Gabbard also said she would forward those documents to the Justice Department for a criminal referral, though it isn’t clear what criminal wrongdoing was alleged. Several figures from the Russian election interference saga, including former CIA Director John Brennan, have been subpoenaed as part of a probe by federal prosecutors in Florida. No charges have been filed.
This action by DNI Tulsi Gabbard does not stand alone. In recent months, Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe have released documents seeking to undermine the 2017 intelligence assessment that concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 election and sought to aid Trump. Ratcliffe also made a criminal referral targeting John Brennan, the former CIA director. Together, these moves signal a sustained and coordinated effort by the Trump administration’s intelligence leadership to relitigate the findings and actions of the previous intelligence establishment a campaign that supporters call accountability and critics call a purge.
