Democratic Reps ask DOJ, FBI to include all agencies in fake comments investigation

Democratic lawmakers are calling on the Justice Department to expand any planned investigation into the hundreds of fake comments that appeared on the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rule to rulemakings from all agencies. In a letter, Reps Bobby Scott (D-VA), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray to expand the previous request it received to investigate the potentially illegal submission of fake comments. Citing a Wall Street Journal investigation, lawmakers said it has come to their attention that other regulatory agencies are facing a scourge of fake comments as well.

"The practice of manipulating agency actions by flooding rulemaking dockets with fake comments is far more widespread than it appeared when you were initially asked to investigate,” they wrote. “Some Americans' voices are being co-opted in what appears to be a systemic attempt to corrupt federal policy-making."