Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz says Democrats running the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees haven’t asked him to testify about his recent report on James Comey nor his upcoming report on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Horowitz, speaking to the House Oversight Committee, testified Wednesday that Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings and Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler hadn’t asked him to testify to Congress about his report on the former FBI director’s mishandling of his memos nor about his upcoming report on possible abuse of the FISA Court by the DOJ and FBI. The report on potential FISA abuse was given to Attorney General William Barr last week, according to Horowitz’s letter to Congress.
Rep. Jim Jordan asked if he’d been contacted by those Democrat-controlled committees to testify.
“No, I have not,” Horowitz told the Ohio Republican. “I don’t believe there have been any discussions.”
Horowitz suggested he spoke with the committees about the timing of the FISA report’s release, but not testifying about it.
“You spent a lot of time on this report,” Jordan said. “This is pretty significant. You would anticipate testifying in front of both the House Oversight Committee, which has jurisdiction over inspector generals, plus the House Judiciary Committee, is that right?”
“I would say, as to any of my reports, I always am available and willing to testify,” Horowitz said.
Earlier in the day at a hearing on FISA, Jordan referred to Horowitz’s letter about the completion of his report’s draft.
“Have you had any contact with Mr. Horowitz about when he might be in front of this committee to testify about the very subject we are learning about today?” Jordan asked.
“We will review any such letter,” Nadler replied.
