The Republican-led House Oversight Committee on Thursday launched an investigation into the FBI for its alleged “failure to report complete and accurate data on domestic crime.”
In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said the bureau “did not include” a 4.5% increase in domestic crime in its 2022 data. .
The FBI had initially reported a 1.7% decline in violent crime in 2022, but then “quietly” revised those numbers, Comer said. Comer alleged that the FBI failed to include in its initial count “1,699 murders, 7,780 rapes, 33,459 robberies and 37,091 additional aggravated assaults.”
Comer said the FBI’s failure to report this data “calls into question the veracity” of the 2023 Crime in the Nation report.
THE ENTIRE CITY POLICE, INCLUDING THE CHIEF, QUIT THE SAME DAY
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) speaks during a hearing with FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf in the Rayburn House Office Building , on April 11, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
He noted that Vice President Kamala Harris “hyped the 2023 data” and the media used it “to dispel Americans’ real concerns about crime.”
“The Committee is concerned that the FBI’s recent failures to report accurate crime data are politically motivated,” Comer said. “The Committee is seeking documents and communications to understand the FBI’s failure to provide Congress and the American people with accurate crime data and whether the 2023 data is, in fact, accurate.”
FBI investigates leak of classified documents on Israeli preparations for possible attack on Iran
The FBI told Fox News Digital that it stands behind each of its Crime Nation posts.
The FBI said a “significant number of agencies” were unable to complete the transition from the bureau’s traditional Summary Reporting System (SRS) to the more comprehensive National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for the year of data collection. 2021.
FILE – An FBI seal is seen on a wall on August 10, 2022 in Omaha, Nebraska. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
“Due to the lower volume of participation, the FBI was unable to produce the traditional national estimates for 2021,” the office said. “To provide a reliable comparison of crime trends across the country, the UCR Program performed an estimate of the NIBRS crime trends analysis.”
The FBI said its release last month of Crime in the Nation, 2023, was the first phase in its efforts to provide the public with more timely data.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The bureau said it will soon transition to publishing monthly data “to promote transparency and provide an opportunity for consumers to review data based on more timely crime counts with the understanding that the data will be continually updated.” .
