The Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General has come under fire for ‘targeting political opponents.’

There are rumors that some employees of the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) have a political prejudice against the subjects of their investigations, which has led to criticism of the agency.

The OIG states that its goal is to “detect and deter fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct by conducting objective, independent, and impactful oversight of the Department, its programs, and the conduct of its personnel.”

Employees of the OIG are impartial and do not change in response to changes within the executive branch. The Senate confirmed Inspector General Michael Horowitz in 2012.


However, recent reports and records examined by News show that there appears to be partisan bias among some OIG staff members, particularly those in charge of supervising investigations of political appointees of the Trump administration.