Michael Horowitz

Michael E. Horowitz was sworn in as the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on April 16, 2012, following his confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Mr. Horowitz was previously confirmed by the Senate in 2003 to serve a six-year term as a Commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

As Inspector General, Mr. Horowitz oversees a nationwide workforce of more than 450 special agents, auditors, inspectors, attorneys, and support staff whose mission is to detect and deter waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in DOJ programs and personnel, and to promote economy and efficiency in Department operations. Since 2015, he has simultaneously served as the Chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), an organization comprised of all 73 federal Inspectors General.

Education

Mr. Horowitz earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School and his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Brandeis University.

Career

Mr. Horowitz worked from 2002 to 2012 as a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham, & Taft LLP, where he focused his practice on white collar defense, internal investigations, and regulatory compliance. He also was a board member of the Ethics Resource Center and the Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics.

Prior to working in private practice, Mr. Horowitz worked in DOJ from 1991 to 2002. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1991 to 1999, where he was the Chief of the Public Corruption Unit and a Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division. In 1995, he was awarded the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for his work on a complex police corruption investigation. Thereafter, he worked in the DOJ Criminal Division in Washington from 1999 to 2002, first as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General and then as Chief of Staff. Mr. Horowitz began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge John G. Davies of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and as an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton.

Findings of FBI investigation of Russia and Trump

On December 9, 2019, Horowitz, a Democrat and Obama-appointee, released his report stating that the FBI made serious mistakes and infractions, and lied to the court, but also stating that somehow showed no political bias during the investigation of Trump and Russia. The report was still scathing, and did show 17 wrong actions in its applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court).[ Despite the fact that one of Christopher Steele’s sources told the agency that his statements had been mischaracterized or exaggerated, the FBI still continued to rely on information from Steele.Steele, the British ex-spy was reported to be a friend of Donald Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, for several years by several news organizations, and Ivanka met with Steele about employing him to do work for The Trump Organization. The report found that the FBI had a legal "authorized purpose" to ask for court approval to begin surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.