Russiagate was a hoax. Was it also a criminal offense?

[...]Having extensively investigated this abuse, House Intelligence Committee Republicans will soon be submitting criminal referrals on numerous individuals involved in these matters. These people must be held to account to prevent similar abuses from occurring in the future. The men and women of our intelligence community perform an essential service defending American national security, and their ability to carry out their mission cannot be compromised by biased actors who seek to transform the intelligence agencies into weapons of political warfare.

Above from a Washington Examiner op-ed, published April 5, by Rep. Devin Nunes, a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.

During his conversation last night with John Batchelor of the  John Batchelor Show, Rep. Nunes mentioned that the criminal referrals to the U.S. Department of Justice will be for about 24 Americans. And he elaborated on what a criminal referral from Congress means, how it works.  

Podcast Part 1 (from the 4:44 minute mark). Part 2 deals with the controversy surrounding the Mueller Report ginned up by the Democratic Party.

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