The top Democrats on four congressional committees are urging the Justice Department and FBI to investigate whether fake comments were illegally submitted to federal regulatory agencies.
Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Jerrold Nadler of New York, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, and Bobby Scott of Virginia sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting an investigation into comment submissions to four agencies, specifically: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Department of Labor.
“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,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote. “Some Americans’ voices are being co-opted in what appears to be a systematic attempt to corrupt federal policy-making.”
The lawmakers asked the Justice Department and FBI in June to investigate the submission of potentially fraudulent comments to the Federal Communications Commission regarding the repeal of net neutrality rules.
“Since June, it has come to our attention that other regulatory agencies are also facing a scourge of fake comments that may similarly violate the law,” the Democrats wrote.
Pallone, Nadler, Cummings, and Scott said that in the case of the CFPB, fake comments were submitted as part of the federal rulemaking process for a payday lending rule. A Wall Street Journal analysis of the comments found that many originated from a web address tied to the Community Financial Services Association of America, which represents payday lenders.
The Democrats said an investigation into potential fraudulent comments is necessary to “restore public trust in the federal rulemaking process.”
