National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard released documents exposing an effort by those within the Intelligence Community (IC) to create a conspiracy that was used to impeach President Trump in 2019.
According to the new information, former IC Inspector General Michael Atkinson relied upon “upon politicized, manufactured narratives – only conducting interviews with four individuals: the Whistleblower, the Whistleblower’s friend who was a co-author of the January 2017 Russia Hoax Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) and close colleague of disgraced former FBI Agent Peter Strzok, and two character references who had zero firsthand knowledge of the July 2019 phone call,” Gabbard’s office explained.
Atkinson then weaponized the Whistleblower process and ignored Department of Justice guidance, instead utilizing second-hand testimony. The narrative was then produced and spread across the media.
The documents expose the Whistleblower as having claimed, “I do not have direct knowledge of private comments or communications by the President.” The documents also note that a witness said they had to “read between the lines” of what was being said.
Atkinson also admitted that he had not “done an investigation to determine whether they actually, in fact, took place…that all of the alleged actions actually took place.”
“Deep state actors within the Intelligence Community concocted a false narrative that was used by Congress to usurp the will of the American people and impeach the duly-elected President of the United States,” Gabbard said in a statement. “Inspector General Atkinson failed to uphold his responsibility to the American people, putting political motivations over the truth. And this, along with the politicization of the whistleblower process by a former CIA employee who was working hand in glove with Democrats in Congress, are egregious examples of the deep state playbook on how to weaponize the Intelligence Community. Exposing these tactics and showing how they undermine the fabric of our democratic republic furthers the critical cause of transparency and accountability and will help prevent future abuse of power.”
Last year, Gabbard released documents surrounding the Obama-era intelligence report aiming to link President Donald Trump with Russia.
In 2016, then-National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers expressed concern that the intelligence community was not “fully comfortable saying that they have had enough time to review all of the intelligence to be absolutely confident in their assessments.”
Former DNI James Clappe responded by saying that officials “may have to compromise on our ‘normal’ modalities,” noting “more time is not negotiable.”
“This is one project that has to be a team sport,” Clapper added.
