MS Now host Symone Sanders appears on “Meet The Press” studio in Washington D.C. (Shannon Finney / NBC via Getty Images)
By Harold Hutchison April 19, 2026 at 10:00am
“The Weeknight” co-host Symone Sanders-Townsend accused the Trump administration of planning to “undermine” elections after reporting that the “whistleblower” who triggered President Donald Trump’s first impeachment had been referred for criminal prosecution.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released documents Monday showing that the investigation by then-Intelligence Community (IC) Inspector General (IG) Michael Atkinson into Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “did not follow standard IG procedures.”
Sanders-Townsend claimed Gabbard’s Wednesday referral of Atkinson and former CIA employee Eric Ciaramella to the Justice Department for possible prosecution went beyond trying to “sanitize the past.”
“Breaking just moments ago, MS NOW has just confirmed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard referred the whistleblower whose complaint led to the first impeachment of President Trump and the Inspector General who deemed their complaint credible for possible criminal prosecution by the Trump Justice Department,” Sanders-Townsend said on the broadcast.
“The move comes days after Gabbard released documents alleging a conspiracy behind Trump’s first impeachment. Except folks, the documents prove no such thing.”
“Also today, the Justice Department that will review this criminal referral is the same one that just asked a federal appeals court to throw out the seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who were sentenced for leading far-right extremist groups and attacking the Capitol on January 6th,” Sanders-Townsend continued.
“Now Trump had already commuted the sentences of these leaders, but this move will go a step further and erase the convictions. In both instances, the administration, it is not just trying to sanitize the past, it is laying the groundwork for future efforts to undermine elections, and we need to be very clear about that.”
The whistleblower complaint that helped trigger the first impeachment of Trump in 2019 after the president allegedly threatened to withhold military aid for Ukraine unless they probed Hunter Biden’s business dealings in the country during a phone call with Zelenskyy.
Former President Joe Biden’s son was appointed to the board of now-defunct Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma in 2014.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump on Dec. 18, 2019, charging Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Gabbard voted “present” on both articles.
The Senate acquitted Trump on both articles of impeachment on Feb. 5, 2020.
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