IG Horowitz Doesn’t Rule Out Political Bias May Have Played Role in FISA Abuse

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on June 18, 2018. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz appeared to admit during Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary hearings that political bias could have played a role in the abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process to surveil President Trump campaign staffer Carter Page.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) pressed Horowitz on the role political bias could have played in the FISA warrant on Page. Earlier in the day, and in his report, Horowitz concluded that political bias didn’t play a role in the FBI’s decision to start an investigation into potential Russian involvement in the Trump campaign.