Top Republican requests House hearing with DOJ inspector general

The top Republican on the House Oversight Committee is calling for Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz to testify before the panel about his recent review of the Russia probe that began in 2016.

“This committee has jurisdiction over the inspector generals and the various federal agencies across our government, and we were hoping that you might let us know when we would have Mr. Horowitz in front of this committee to answer the questions about his important, and in many ways scathing report, on the FISA court and what took place just a few years ago in front of that court,” Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), the ranking member of the committee, said Tuesday at an unrelated hearing.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the committee chair, would not commit to holding a hearing with Horowitz. Instead, she responded by saying, “We will address that at the appropriate time.”

Jordan’s inquiry comes a day before Horowitz is slated to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his long-awaited report that found FBI agents were not motivated by political bias in opening investigations into associates of the Trump campaign in 2016, dealing a blow to a key talking point of the president and his Republican allies.

But the report also criticized the FBI over its handling of applications to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, giving President Trump and his GOP allies ammo to attack the agency.