Ian Patrick, FISM News
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Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray asking for information regarding an FBI audit conducted in 2019 that he said suggests “a pattern of misconduct and mismanagement.”
Writing as a ranking member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, Jordan posted his letter to Director Wray on Twitter asking for an explanation. The letter references wording from The Washington Times, which broke the story on March 11, saying the audit suggested agents from the FBI “violated agency rules at least 747 times in 18 months while conducting investigations involving politicians, candidates, religious groups, news media and others.”
The audit looked at 353 cases from January 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, and found “747 compliance errors in violation of internal FBI rules.”
“The FBI conducted this internal review in 2019 to gauge compliance with FBI rules for handling high-profile and delicate cases – known as sensitive investigative matters (SIMs),” according to Jordan.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) March 22, 2022
What the audit produced according to Jordan was the revelation “that FBI officials failed to receive approval from supervisors to open an investigation, failed to ensure that appropriate FBI attorneys review a SIM prior to opening an investigation, and did not notify the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office in writing within a month of starting an investigation – all in violation of FBI policy.”
He said this audit just “adds to the list of troubling FBI misconduct when investigating sensitive matters.” He referenced the FBI’s involvement in spying on the Trump campaign and their use of a “threat tag” to look into concerned parents at school board meetings.
Speaking on behalf of the Judiciary Committee, Jordan asked Wray to provide “an unredacted copy” of the audit in question and any other documents related to it. Jordan also asked for “a description of the FBI’s predicate to open” the cases involved in the audit and to explain “whether the FBI has resolved compliance issues related to sensitive investigative matters identified in the secret audit.”
He finally asked for any other unredacted “internal reviews” conducted between November 1, 2019, up until the present day to also be provided to the Committee.