Donald Trump Impeachment and Intelligence Oversight

Former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, now serving as director of national intelligence, has sent criminal referrals to the Department of Justice naming the 2019 Trump-Ukraine whistleblower and former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, according to statements from ODNI and reporting by Fox News, MS NOW and CBS. The referrals, described by ODNI's general counsel and publicized by Gabbard on X, cite "possible criminal activity" tied to Atkinson's handling of the whistleblower complaint — specifically his closed-door briefings to the House Intelligence Committee and ODNI's assertion that Atkinson "failed to conduct basic due diligence" and "willfully exceeded his statutory jurisdiction" by treating President Trump's call with Ukraine's president as an "urgent concern." CBS and other outlets note that the documents Gabbard released do not themselves provide direct evidence of criminal wrongdoing.