Justice Department watchdog says it is being blocked from obtaining key records

The watchdog group charged with monitoring the Justice Department complained Thursday that the nation’s top law enforcement agency is preventing it from accessing sensitive internal records.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz criticized a department legal opinion this week that said he and his investigators could not have unfettered access to certain records, such as grand jury, wiretap and credit information, that is required by law to be withheld from the public.

“Without such access, our office’s ability to conduct its work will be significantly impaired, and it will be more difficult for us to detect and deter waste, fraud and abuse, and to protect taxpayer dollars,” Horowitz said in a statement.

The disagreement dates to 2010, when the FBI started restricting or delaying the inspector general’s access to documents whose confidentiality is protected by law, including grand jury testimony and intercepted communications.

Horowitz argues that since his office is a component of the Justice Department, and since the law creating inspector generals explicitly gives it access to all records relevant to its investigations, there should be no restrictions.

The dispute could also affect inspector generals at other federal government agencies.

A statement by the Office of Inspector General said that the opinion undermines the office’s independence, “which is a hallmark of the inspector general system and is essential to carrying out the OIG’s oversight responsibilities under the Inspector General Act.”

Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said in a statement that the department’s legal opinion does allow the release of sensitive information to the inspector general under certain circumstances and that the department had instituted new policies to pass on permitted information in a timely manner. Pierce said the department would support legislation to clarify the law concerning legally protected information.

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