A recent report published by America First Legal (AFL) details how the FBI weaponized the federal background investigation process to deny Republican presidents — specifically Donald Trump — the ability to make political appointments in an “institution-wide” violation of the Privacy Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, and other federal statutes. Institutional disregard for the FBI Manual of Investigative Operations and Guidelines (MIOG) further contributed to this.

It alleges that during the Trump administration, the FBI illegally conducted politically biased background checks to sabotage potential appointees with selectively “unsubstantiated” and “derogatory” information.

The report, along with a letter detailing its findings, was sent to Republican Reps. Jim Jordan, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and James Comer, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and Democrat Sens. Dick Durbin of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Gary Peters of the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee.