In a letter sent to FBI Director Christopher Wray, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan demanded Tuesday answers about testimony from a Bureau analyst who claimed that officials had used a “software” tool to track election-related speech on social media.
During a meeting with the Committee and Select Subcommittee on Weaponization of Federal Government, the analyst stated that the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force division (FITF), used the tool to “search online databases for content indicative of criminal behavior.”
Jordan wrote: “Accordingly to the analyst’s testimony, FBI uses this tool for monitoring social media posts, whether they are made by American citizens or foreigners, in order to search for content indicative of criminal activity.”
The analyst also testified that social media companies are informed of the FBI’s findings and, in particular, the ‘user names’ and ‘content’ of posts. They can then censor the content.
When asked about the extent of the searches, the legal team of the Bureau interjected.
Jordan wrote that “Although it was stated by the FBI analyst in his testimony that they use this software to investigate ‘criminal activity,’ the agency counsel prevented the analyst repeatedly from answering all of the Committee’s inquiries about the software and its scope.
We write in order to get more information to determine whether or not the FBI is using or may use this software to censor lawful speech or to infringe on it, especially American political speech.
House Judiciary Committee Republicans published a copy on X of the letter asking “Was FBI using a tool to spy on you during election season?”
They concluded, “It seems like it.”
