Posted originally on CTH on April 13, 2026 | Sundance
It’s worth remembering how the IC silo process was used to manipulate proprietary claims by government agencies. These setups are intentionally designed this way, and none of the reasons behind them are good.
The CIA Whistleblower Complaint and subsequent Intelligence Community Inspector General investigation and report, falls under the work product of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The IC IG is quasi-independent but works for the ODNI.
DNI Tulsi Gabbard is releasing direct stakeholder information from within the ODNI with the release as noted – SEE HERE. This is the background information that led to the impeachment effort. The DNI is the Executive Branch.
The transcript of ICIG Michael Atkinson was held within another branch of government, within the Legislative Branch, and as a consequence DNI Gabbard needed to gain permission from the House Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), another silo, in order to review the testimony that came as an outcome of the ICIG complaint and investigation. SEE HERE and SEE HERE.
DNI Gabbard then needed to request the release of the HPSCI transcripts [legislative branch] to her DNI office [executive branch] where all three aspects of the ICIG activity can then be examined and reviewed in full context.
The DNI then requests the HPSCI to permit declassification and public release. HPSCI reluctantly agrees. DNI declassifies then returns the transcripts to the HPSCI for public release – while simultaneously the DNI office declassifies and releases the baseline ICIG investigative material so the public can have context.
The resulting outcome is a combined work product from five silos (HPSCI, DNI, CIA, ICIG, NSC) along with a statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and a summary of what all the combined materials show:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard releases never-before-seen documents exposing a coordinated effort by elements within the Intelligence Community (IC), including a former Inspector General (IG), to manufacture a conspiracy that was used as the basis to impeach President Trump in 2019.
During his preliminary investigation into President Trump’s July 2019 phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, former IC IG Michael Atkinson did not follow standard IG procedures and relied 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.
Despite a lack of any firsthand evidence, IC IG Atkinson proceeded to take actions to weaponize the Whistleblower process and exceed his statutory jurisdiction by ignoring Department of Justice guidance and relying on only second-hand testimony to ensure the whistleblower complaint was released to Congress, referred to the FBI, and leaked to the propaganda media.
Then-House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chairman Adam Schiff and then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi used this false, second-hand narrative to create media intrigue and ultimately spark the basis to impeach President Trump in December of 2019.
“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,” said DNI Gabbard. “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.”
Review the documents released here and see below for a summary of newly declassified materials:
Today’s release includes investigative materials used by then-IC IG Atkinson (here) and a review of two transcripts from IC IG Atkinson’s closed-door testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (here and here), which were withheld from the House Judiciary Committee during the sham impeachment trial and kept locked in a safe until House Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford led the vote to release these transcripts on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
♦ NO FIRSTHAND EVIDENCE: The Intelligence Community Inspector General’s preliminary “investigation” into the whistleblower complaint relied on politicized actors and second-hand evidence. Newly declassified documents expose how IC IG Atkinson relied upon second-hand information from the self-declared “Democrat” whistleblower [Ciaramella] and two biased witnesses to justify his determination that the whistleblower compliant was of “urgent concern,” “appears credible,” and must be reported to Congress. IC IG Atkinson also ignored concerns by the whistleblower’s supervisor about a rushed complaint.
The Whistleblower [Eric Ciaramella] confirms he/she had no firsthand knowledge of President Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Zelensky.
In an initial form submitted by the Whistleblower, he/she claimed, “I do not have direct knowledge of private comments or communications by the President.”
New witness interviews released today show that IC IG Atkinson’s public claim that “other information obtained during [his] preliminary review…supports the complainant’s allegation” was false and hid the fact that neither the Whistleblower’s nor the key witness’ allegations concerning the President’s phone call were informed by direct, firsthand knowledge.
WITNESS 2 admitted that upon reading the transcript of the call he/she “would not have been able to get from ‘point A to Z’ the way the Whistleblower did” and described that he/she lacked the “granular detail” that the Whistleblower had to justify filing the complaint.”
WITNESS 2 admitted that he/she had to “read between the lines” of what was being said, and that his/her perception of quid pro quo “became clear” only “in hindsight.”
The Whistleblower’s superior, a senior officer in the National Intelligence Council (NIC), told IC Inspector General investigators that he/she, “did not like how the [Whistleblower] handled the filing of the report,” saying that he/she felt that he/she was “looped in right at the time of the crash.”
IC IG Atkinson’s 14-day preliminary investigation was intended to assess apparent credibility, but instead became the basis of a flawed, mischaracterized account that House Democrats peddled to launch a sham impeachment, even though the IC IG never conducted a formal or complete investigation.
In his own words, IC IG Atkinson recognizes that his conclusions were based on a “preliminary investigation,” noting that “I haven’t done an investigation to determine whether they actually, in fact, took place…that all of the alleged actions actually took place.”
♦ ANTI-TRUMP RUSSIA HOAX CO-AUTHOR AS KEY WITNESS: IC IG Atkinson relied on testimony from a co-author of the 2017 Russia Hoax ICA to support the Whistleblower’s allegations that there was some form of wrongdoing by President Trump.
Last year, DNI Gabbard revealed evidence that President Obama directed the creation of the January 2017 Russia Hoax ICA. This served as the basis for what was essentially a years-long coup against the duly-elected President of the United States, subverting the will of the American people and attempting to delegitimize Donald Trump’s presidency.
WITNESS 2 – who was one of the key sources for the Whistleblower ahead of filing a complaint – admits in a witness interview to being a “co-author of the 2017 ICA” which used manufactured and manipulated intelligence to create the false narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to the benefit of President Trump.
WITNESS 2 also admitted to having worked alongside now-disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok who inserted political bias into FBI investigations about President Trump based on the manufactured Russia Hoax.
WITNESS 2 further exposed political bias when explaining that he/she “routinely deals with issues on a daily basis that are contrary to [his/ her] personal beliefs,” and “stated that [he/she] is disappointed everyday by policy decisions and statements made by political figures.”
♦ WHISTLEBLOWER’S PARTISAN BIAS, LIES CONFIRMED: The Whistleblower [Eric Ciaramella] admitted he/she lied to the Inspector General about speaking to Democrats in Congress ahead of submitting allegations of wrongdoing by President Trump to the IC Inspector General. While media widely reported on this detail in 2019, the pre-complaint meeting with Congress has never before been confirmed by the Whistleblower.
In October 2019, after the media began to report that the Whistleblower had spoken with Congress ahead of submitting the “Disclosure of Urgent Concern Form,” the Whistleblower called the IC IG to admit that he/she had, in fact, spoken with Congress.
IC IG Atkinson admits in newly-declassified testimony that his investigative team “did ask the complainant who else knew about the disclosure” and the complainant withheld from the investigative team, within the 14-day window, that he/she alerted HPSCI Democratic staff.
[Whistleblower Eric Ciaramella pictured left with U.S. President Barack Obama]
Whistleblower interviews reveal the political biases of the Whistleblower, in his/her own words:
The Whistleblower states he/she is a “registered democrat.”
The Whistleblower claims to have “worked closely with Vice President Biden…travelled with Biden to Ukraine and was part of conversations where LUTSENKO corruption was discussed.”
The Whistleblower also claims to have become “the target of right-wing bloggers…and conspiracy theorists.”
Yet, IC IG Atkinson ignored this and insisted during his testimony to HPSCI, “I also want to make it clear that I never considered the whistleblower to be politically biased.”
Despite public reports that the Whistleblower worked with Vice President Biden on Ukraine matters, inquiries into the Whistleblower’s bias and motive were blocked during the 2020 impeachment trial.
♦ IC INSPECTOR GENERAL WEAPONIZED THE WHISTLEBLOWER PROCESS: Newly declassified documents confirm that IC IG Atkinson failed to conduct basic due diligence and willfully exceeded his statutory jurisdiction to mischaracterize the President’s phone call with Zelensky as an “urgent concern” to Congress.
• From Day 1, IC IG Atkinson knew that a transcript of President Trump’s call existed. And yet, he never, throughout the entire preliminary investigation, requested access to it.
• IC IG Atkinson sent a criminal referral to the DOJ on this matter, despite only relying on second-hand knowledge to support his claims.
• The DOJ later assessed the allegations raised by the Whistleblower and IC IG and found no basis for a criminal case, concluding that based on the facts and applicable law, there was “no campaign finance violation” and “no further action was warranted.”
• After the DOJ reviewed the whistleblower complaint and determined there was “no urgent concern,” IC IG Atkinson ignored their determination and proceeded to transmit this faulty whistleblower complaint to Congress without completing a fulsome investigation, despite the allegations being made based on second-hand information.
• On September 3, the DOJ provided Office of Legal Counsel guidance to IC IG Atkinson that the complaint did not rise to the level of “urgent concern” because the alleged conduct does not relate to “the funding, administration, or operation of an intelligence activity” under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence. As a result, the statute does not require the Director to transmit the complaint to the congressional intelligence committees.
• On September 9, the IC IG ignored this guidance and the Acting Director of National Intelligence to pen a letter to inform the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the existence of the “urgent concern” complaint.
• As was reported at the time, IC OIG altered the whistleblower form within months of the July 2019 phone call to no longer require firsthand knowledge as a prerequisite for reporting complaints.
• IC IG Atkinson sought unprecedented assistance from other Inspectors Generals to carry on this investigation “if [he] was stopped, [he] wanted to see whether other inspectors general could proceed.” In particular, he contacted the IGs at the Departments of State, Justice, and Defense. {SOURCE}
IC IG Michael Atkinson pictured below
Hopefully everyone can see the construct above and how IC IG Michael Atkinson worked with his former DOJ colleague Mary McCord who was at the time working for HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff.
Ask the right questions.
Michael Atkinson moved from his position as legal counsel for the Asst Attorney General of the DOJ-NSD (Mary McCord) to the position of IC IG effective May 17, 2018. The ICIG position is a nomination by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI):
Who was the person in 2018, at the height of the Mueller investigation, who told President Trump to nominate Michael Atkinson as Intelligence Community Inspector General?
Who told Trump to appoint Atkinson?
Find that person and you will find a person who was directly working against the interests of President Trump.
Why does this matter?…
…. Because this is not a random nomination and random appointment. ICIG Michael Atkinson was intentionally moved into the position of ICIG in order to carry out an impeachment effort.
This was not happenstance. This was intentional.
At the conclusion of his impeachment trial, President Trump fired IC IG Michael Atkinson.
Simultaneous with the Senate acquittal during the failed impeachment, and following the firing of IC IG Michael Atkinson, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence suddenly dropped their block on the nomination of John Ratcliffe to be the Director of National Intelligence.
Centinel2012 