WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) questioned Michael Horowitz, the inspector general of the Department of Justice, today about his report outlining misuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.  Horowitz conducted an investigation into how and why the FBI investigated the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.

Click here or the photo below to watch Sen. Kennedy’s questioning.

 

Exchange between Sen. Kennedy and Inspector General Horowitz:

Kennedy: “Let’s talk about the people involved in the initial FISA application and the renewals. These are experienced people, right?”

Horowitz: “In this case, these were experienced people.”

Kennedy:  “Many of them had professional degrees, including but not limited to, law degrees, right?”

Horowitz: “I actually don’t know what all their degrees were.”

Kennedy: “They knew the law?”

Horowitz: “They should have not only known the law; they should have known every single policy they had to deal with here.”

Kennedy: “I mean they were hand-picked by Mr. McCabe right?”

Horowitz: “They were hand-picked.”

Kennedy: “This wasn’t their first rodeo.”

Horowitz: “It certainly wasn’t with maybe an exception or two towards the end of relatively new agents coming on board.  But that should not have been an excuse, just to be clear.”

Kennedy:  “It just seems to me that it has to be one of two things: incompetence or intentional conduct.”

Horowitz:  “I agree.  It’s either sheer incompetence or intentionality or something in between.”

Kennedy: “So which do you think it is?

Horowitz:  “… I think it’s fair for people to sit there and look at all of these 17 events and wonder how it could be purely incompetence.”  

 

###