Michael Evan Horowitz (born September 19, 1962) is an American attorney and government official. He is the Inspector General of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

Early life and education

Horowitz is the son of Jewish parents, Anne J. and Fred Horowitz. His father owned the women's clothing manufacturer, Paul Alfred Inc.; and his mother owned an antique store in

Nyack, New York Nyack () is a Village (New York), village primarily located in the Town (New York), town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, a small western section of the village lies in Clarkst ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

, summa cum laude, from

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

majoring in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and minoring in

Legal Studies Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

. He then earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

, magna cum laude, from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

Career

Following law school he served as a law clerk for Judge John G. Davies of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He then worked as an associate at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. From 1991 to 1999 he was an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. From 1999 to 2002 he worked at the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington D.C., first as a deputy assistant attorney general, then as chief of staff. In 2002 he returned to private practice as a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where he focused on white collar defense, internal investigations, and regulatory compliance. During this time he also served as a commissioner on the

U.S. Sentencing Commission The United States Sentencing Commission is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal judiciary of the United States, judicial branch of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal go ...

—a position for which he was confirmed by the Senate in 2003.

Inspector General for the Department of Justice

Horowitz was sworn in as the Inspector General of the

on April 16, 2012.About the DOJ OIG
About The Office Since 2015, he has also been the chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), an organization consisting of all 73 federal Inspectors General. ''The New York Times'' reported he was not among at least twelve inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump four days into his second term.

Review on FBI and DOJ actions in the 2016 election

Horowitz announced in January 2017 that the Inspector General's office would examine evidence related to "allegations of misconduct" regarding

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Director James B. Comey's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email practices and whether Justice Department employees leaked information improperly during the run-up to the

2016 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor, Indiana governor Mike P ...

. In June 2018, Horowitz released his report, concluding that Peter Strzok and other FBI employees "brought discredit to themselves" and to the agency. He found that Comey indulged in ad hoc decision making and did not follow FBI procedures, but did not find that he was motivated by any political bias.

Review on 4 FISA Applications and the Crossfire Hurricane investigation

Another investigation into the FBI and Justice Department was launched by Horowitz in March 2018. This investigation targeted the FBI and Justice Department's filing of four

FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA, , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence on domestic soil.

applications and renewals to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and whether or not there was an abuse of this FISA process. A redacted version of the report of the investigation was released December 9, 2019. On November 18, 2019 Senator

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...

, Chairman of the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

, announced that Horowitz would testify before the committee on December 11 regarding the investigation and provide recommendations on how judicial and investigative systems could be improved. On December 9, 2019, Horowitz released his report stating that the FBI found 17 “basic and fundamental” errors and omissions in its applications to the

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), also called the FISA Court, is a U.S. federal court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to oversee requests for surveillance warrants ag ...

(FISA Court), but did not find political bias during the investigation of Trump and Russia, nor did he find evidence that the FBI attempted to place people inside the Trump campaign or report on the Trump campaign.https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf However, in a Senate hearing, Horowitz stated he could not rule out political bias as a possible motivation. The report found that the FBI had a legal "authorized investigative purpose and with sufficient factual predication" to ask for court approval to begin surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.

Pandemic Response Accountability Committee

Horowitz appointed Glenn Fine to chair the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), but Trump removed Fine in early April 2020. That month, Horowitz became acting chair of the PRAC.

Review of the DOJ's Zero Tolerance Policy

In January 2021, the Inspector General for the Department of Justice concluded an investigation into the "zero tolerance" policy, finding that: department leaders underestimated the difficulty of implementing it, failed to tell local prosecutors and others that children would be separated; failed to understand that separations would last longer than a few hours; and failed to halt the policy after that was discovered. The findings led

Rod Rosenstein Rod Jay Rosenstein (; born January 13, 1965) is an American attorney who served as the 37th United States Deputy Attorney General, United States deputy attorney general from 2017 to 2019. Prior to his appointment, he served as a United States a ...

, who had been Trump's Attorney General at the time the policy was enforced, to admit that family separations "should never have been implemented". According to an ''NBC News'' report on the investigation, "The report could provide a road map for the incoming Biden administration to investigate those responsible for a policy President-elect Joe Biden has called criminal."

Review of the DOJ on the attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election

After the ''New York Times'' report in January 2021 alleged that some officials in the Justice Department attempted to work with President Trump in order to overturn the election, Horowitz announced that he will open up an investigation regarding the allegation.

Personal life

In 2000, he married Alexandra Leigh Kauffman in

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is part of both the Northern Virginia region of the state and the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. European se ...

. Kauffman is a former field producer for

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

covering economics and personal finance.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horowitz, Michael E. 1962 births Brandeis University alumni Harvard Law School alumni Living people People associated with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft Lawyers from New York City Civil servants from New York City United States Department of Justice officials United States inspectors general by name People associated with Debevoise & Plimpton