Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who has finished the report on his investigation into abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, has been talking with U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is handling any criminal referrals from the investigation.
Horowitz, who was called in front of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday with a couple other inspectors general to speak about his leadership role on the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, revealed that he had spoken with the prosecutor in the course of his investigation into possible FISA abuse by the FBI and DOJ.
Durham is Attorney General William Barr’s right-hand man as the two look into the complicated and classified issues surrounding how an investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged ties with Russia began, separate from Horowitz’s effort, and the U.S. Attorney from Connecticut has been virtually silent since being selected by Barr.
Rep. Jody Hice, a Republican from Georgia, asked Horowitz about Durham in the Oversight hearing.
“I am going to defer to him and the Attorney General on that issue as to what they’re doing,” Horowitz replied. “I have had communications with him but it’s, really, they’re a separate entity and he’s working under the direction of the Attorney General. I’m obviously independent.”
Trump gave Barr “full and complete authority to declassify information” related to the origins of the Trump-Russia probe back in May after Barr had infuriated Democrats when he said “spying did occur” on the Trump campaign and refused to back down from it. Barr picked Durham to lead this effort.
Barr has said Horowitz’s effort is fairly narrow in scope, while Durham, whom he described as “tenacious and fair,” has the power to compel testimony and get information from former officials or from other agencies.
Durham, armed with subpoena power, might be able to glean more than Horowitz.
The 412 pages of redacted FISA documents released in early 2018 show the DOJ and the FBI made extensive use of British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s unverified dossier, which he put together in 2016 at the behest of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which was hired by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee by Marc Elias of the Perkins Coie law firm — who was briefed about Steele’s findings throughout the race and, in turn, briefed the Clinton campaign too. Republicans allege Steele’s funding from a Democratic presidential campaign and his desire for President Trump to lose the election were concealed by the DOJ and FBI from the FISA court.
Horowitz’s report is expected to be made public in the coming weeks.
