Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard asked the Justice Department to investigate two former government officials who played a central role in President Trump's first impeachment inquiry. A spokesperson for Gabbard's office confirmed that she drafted criminal referrals for a whistleblower and former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.

"Deep state actors within the intelligence community concocted a false narrative that Congress used to usurp the will of the American people and impeach duly-elected President @realDonaldTrump in 2019," Gabbard said. She criticized how Atkinson handled the 2019 whistleblower complaint and released documents linked to him. The referrals did not detail what specific crimes are alleged, and the documents do not provide any direct evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Gabbard said Atkinson relied on second-hand evidence in reviewing the whistleblower complaint and that his work on the 2019 impeachment inquiry lacked firsthand accounts and contained biased evidence. The criminal referrals reference possible criminal activity related to Atkinson's discussions and briefings with the House Intelligence Committee in 2019. Whether to pursue a criminal investigation following a referral is up to prosecutors at the Justice Department.

The whistleblower complaint at the center of the referrals reported an "urgent concern" about President Trump's request for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. The complaint also expressed concerns about how records of a Trump-Zelenskyy phone call were handled and about the role of Rudy Giuliani in the U.S. relationship with Ukraine. Trump denied any wrongdoing in relation to the call. He was impeached in the House of Representatives in late 2019 and acquitted in a Senate vote mostly along party lines in early 2020. Trump fired Atkinson in 2020.

"I have faithfully discharged my duties as inspector general and spent my nearly two-decade career serving without regard to partisan favor or political fear," Atkinson said. Rep. Jim Himes said the referrals could discourage future whistleblowers.

"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. I suspect that is precisely the point," Himes said.

Last year, Gabbard's office released files related to the intelligence community's review of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Her office said the files showed a "treasonous conspiracy" by Biden-era officials, and she said she would forward those documents to the Justice Department for a criminal referral.