The weaponization of the federal government should scare every American. Now we need answers.
And the FBI is on fire after House Republicans announces an unprecedented investigation.
The House Oversight and Reform Committee has demanded answers from the FBI, questioning why it published crime statistics last year that seemed to align with President Biden’s claims of a drop in violent crime, only to “quietly” revise those numbers this year.
Initially, FBI analysts reported a 1.7% decrease in violent crime for 2022.
However, last month’s low-key revision now shows a 4.5% increase from 2021 to 2022.
So the most senior law enforcement agency in the country is playing cover for Biden and Kamala?
In response, Oversight Chairman James Comer has ordered the FBI to hand over documents detailing these adjustments, as well as any communication with the Justice Department or the Biden White House.
“The committee is concerned that the FBI’s recent failures to report accurate crime data are politically motivated,” Comer, a Kentucky Republican, wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Crime data is already a flashpoint in the 2024 election, with former President Donald Trump warning of a crime surge, while President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris maintain it’s down.
Vice President Harris has been citing the FBI’s data, but John R. Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, says the FBI’s quiet updates undermine those claims.
The revised data shows significant increases in aggravated assaults, robberies, and murders, contradicting the FBI’s initial report.
Following the release of Mr. Lott’s analysis, the FBI informed The Washington Times that these figures were revised as part of a new method for sharing police report data.
The initial reports were extrapolated from available data, while the updated version uses raw figures.
Despite the adjustments, the FBI stands by its conclusion that crime reports dropped from 2021 to 2022 and has since reported a further decline from 2022 to 2023.
Mr. Comer says Americans remain unconvinced.
Adding to the confusion, the Justice Department’s National Crime Victimization Survey paints a different picture, showing that crime levels were largely unchanged from 2022 to 2023 and remain significantly higher now than in 2020, the final year of the Trump administration.
Why is it so hard to get straight answers?
Because plenty of politicians stand to win political points if they can pretend that the country isn’t on fire.
Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.
