Comer is investigating the FBI for “secretly” revised crime statistics

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee opened an investigation Thursday into the FBI over its alleged “failure to report complete and accurate national crime data.”

In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said the FBI “failed to account” for a 4.5% increase in national crime in its 2022 data.

The FBI initially reported a 1.7% drop in violent crime in 2022, but later “quietly” revised those numbers, Comer said. Comer claimed that the FBI did not include “an additional 1,699 murders, 7,780 rapes, 33,459 robberies and 37,091 aggravated assaults” in its original count.

Comer said the FBI's failure to report this data “calls into question the veracity” of the 2023 Crime in the Nation report.

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He noted that Vice President Kamala Harris “touted the 2023 data” and the media used it “to allay 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 why the FBI has failed to provide accurate crime data to Congress and the American people, and whether the 2023 data is in fact accurate.”

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The FBI told Fox News Digital that it stands behind each of its “Crime in the Nation” releases.

The FBI said a “significant number of agencies” were unable to complete the transition from the FBI's traditional Summary Reporting System (SRS) to the more comprehensive National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for the 2021 data collection year.

FILE – An FBI seal is seen on a wall in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 10, 2022. (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 FBI said. “To provide a reliable comparison of crime trends across the country, the UCR program conducted a NIBRS estimation analysis of crime trends.”

The FBI said the release of “Crime in the Nation, 2023” last month was the first phase of its efforts to provide the public with more timely data.

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The bureau said it will soon move to monthly data releases “to promote transparency and provide consumers the opportunity to review data based on more recent crimes, with the understanding that the data will be continually updated.”