Republican Representative Jim Jordan is demanding FBI Director Christopher Wray appear before Congress to answer allegations the agency improperly spied on political figures and others.
Jordan, along with two other GOP representatives, sent a letter to Wray on Monday in response to a Washington Times' report that the agency violated its own safeguards on preventing undue spying.
Jordan, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has previously accused the FBI of launching politically motivated investigations.
The letter references a March 11 report by The Washington Times based on an audit conducted by the agency in 2019. The newspaper said the audit showed the FBI "violated agency rules at least 747 times in 18 months while conducting investigations involving politicians, candidates, religious groups, news media and others."
FBI auditors looked at 353 sensitive investigative matters, less than half of all of its cases, the paper reports. Of those reviewed, 191 involved domestic public officials, dozens of religious organizations or prominent members in addition to dozens of political organizations or individuals. Ten cases involved U.S. political candidates and 11 news media.
"This internal audit and the staggering number of errors it found suggest a pattern of misconduct and mismanagement within the FBI in failing to uphold internal rules for its most sensitive cases," the letter read. "This internal review documented systemic FBI failures to follow its own rules and procedures."
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