Gabbard says declassified testimony exposes plot behind Trump impeachment

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released new declassified testimony in which she alleges the intelligence community showed a “coordinated effort” to “manufacture a conspiracy” used as the basis for the initial impeachment of President Donald Trump.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Monday released two declassified transcripts from closed-door hearings of the House Intelligence Committee; Former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson pleaded credibly to a whistleblower complaint based on secondhand information from a person who previously worked with then-Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine, Gabbard’s office said. Based on this and other statements, Gabbard’s office argued that Atkinson’s actions were “weaponized.”[d] Notification process and how to overcome it[ed] It is his legal authority.”

Atkinson’s investigation helped trigger Trump’s first impeachment by advancing what he called a “credible” whistleblower complaint about a July 2019 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Gabbard’s office said Monday that former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson “did not follow standard IG procedures and relied on politicized, manufactured narratives” in investigating the whistleblower allegation that ultimately led to Trump’s impeachment in 2019.

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Referring to House testimony previously declassified by Atkinson, Gabbard said the former inspector general was “aggressively advancing” her preliminary investigation, relying on secondhand testimony and people she described as politicized witnesses. Gabbard’s office also claimed that Atkinson “never conducted a formal or full investigation.”

“IC IG Atkinson acknowledges that her conclusions were based on a ‘preliminary investigation,’ as she put it, and stated ‘I have not conducted an investigation to determine whether these actually occurred…all of the alleged acts did in fact occur,'” according to Gabbard’s statement.

Under federal lawThe inspector general’s preliminary role is to determine whether the whistleblower’s complaint “appears credible” rather than to fully investigate or prove the underlying allegations. Atkinson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Gabbard’s office said the testimony revealed that Atkinson was aware that the primary whistleblower, whose identity had not yet been officially released, was a “registered Democrat” and that she alerted the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence staff before submitting the “Disclosure of Urgent Concerns” form.

The whistleblower also admitted to “working closely with Vice President Biden” and “traveling with Biden to Ukraine and taking part in conversations discussing LUTSENKO corruption,” according to the DNI statement. Yuriy Lutsenko, who was Ukraine’s prosecutor general from 2016 to 2019, was the official who took over and closed the Burisma investigation, and was later sued by Hunter Biden-connected lobbyists seeking to facilitate connections between the Ukrainian government and Democratic political circles, Fox News Digital previously reported.

Gabbard also accused Atkinson of ignoring any bias, emphasizing that she said in her statement: “I also want to make clear that I did not consider the whistleblower to be politically biased at any time.”

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The office said that in the first form submitted by the whistleblower, they acknowledged that Trump “had no direct knowledge of his private comments or communications.” In particular, it is stated that whistleblower laws do not require the whistleblower to provide first-hand information. National Whistleblowing Center.

Gabbard’s office said one of the “key” witnesses Atkinson relied on to corroborate the whistleblower’s report during its preliminary investigation was also a co-author of a controversial 2017 intelligence community assessment of Russian collusion that Gabbard had previously said was instigated at the direction of former President Barack Obama.

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Gabbard, herself a former Democrat, accused Atkinson of “failing her responsibility to the American people and putting political motivations ahead of reality.”

From left, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Intelligence Agency Director James Adams, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Acting Commander of U.S. Cyber ​​Command William Hartman and CIA Director John Ratcliffe sit before Senate Intelligence Committee hearings to examine worldwide threats on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Washington. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

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“Deep state actors within the Intelligence Community fabricated a false narrative that was used by Congress to usurp the will of the American people and remove the duly elected President of the United States from office,” Gabbard said. “And this, along with the politicization of the whistleblowing process by a former CIA employee working hand-in-hand 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 will further the critical goal of transparency and accountability and help prevent future abuses of power,” he added.

Democratic lawmakers largely rejected Gabbard’s statements and framed the declassification as an attempt by the DNI to curry favor with Trump.

“This is a minor thing; just another sad attempt by Tulsi Gabbard to curry favor with Donald Trump,” Sen. Mark Warner, ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Politico’s. NatSec Daily newsletter.

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He also criticized the declassification of X.

“Anyone can read the transcript of the phone call in which Trump blackmailed President Zelenskyy into slandering Biden. This was an impeachable crime, and no amount of kicking dust and flattery can hide that,” Himes said. he wrote. “If Joe Biden had made that call, Republicans would have burned this place down.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to House and Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats for additional comment.