President Trump lashed out at Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who could not find evidence that the FBI’s decision to open an investigation into Trump campaign associates was motivated by political bias.
While calling the inspector general’s report “really bad” for FBI officials “and others,” Trump suggested in a Sunday tweet that Horowitz’s appointment by President Barack Obama played a role in his assessment.
“Remember that I.G. Horowitz was appointed by Obama. There was tremendous bias and guilt exposed, so obvious, but Horowitz couldn’t get himself to say it. Big credibility loss. Obama knew everything!” he tweeted.
As bad as the I.G. Report is for the FBI and others, and it is really bad, remember that I.G. Horowitz was appointed by Obama. There was tremendous bias and guilt exposed, so obvious, but Horowitz couldn’t get himself to say it. Big credibility loss. Obama knew everything!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2019
Two days after the release of his report that concluded there were serious errors in the FBI obtaining surveillance warrants on former Trump adviser Carter Page, Horowitz testified that he was unable to say if bias tainted the application process.
“There are significant serious failures here on the operation — particularly in connection with FISAs,” Horowitz told Congress. “Whether it was sheer gross incompetence that led to this versus intentional misconduct or anything in between and what the motivations are, I can’t tell you as I sit here today. I don’t have enough evidence to reach a conclusion.”
However, he supported the bureau’s legal basis for beginning the investigation.
Horowitz, 57, was previously a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, where he investigated police corruption in the 1990s. He was appointed by then-President George W. Bush in 2003 to serve a six-year term as a commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which writes sentencing guidelines for federal courts. Obama appointed him in 2012 to be inspector general of the Justice Department. He is not registered under any political party.
