FBI chief accused of abusing official aircraft

Senior representatives of the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives intend to demand from FBI Director Chris Ray a report on the use of his official aircraft.

According to representatives of the Republican Party, Ray repeatedly used the plane for personal purposes, Kommersant reports citing Fox News channel, which has a copy of the relevant request.

The letter was signed by the head of the Republican minority in the House, Eliza Stefanik, deputy chairman of the House Committee on Control and Reforms James Comer, and deputy of the House Standing Committee on Intelligence Mike Turner, according to the channel, which consistently supports Republicans and Donald Trump.

"With this letter, we want to investigate the use of the state fleet of aircraft by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the compliance of this use with applicable rules and requirements," Fox News quotes the letter.

"We have questions about how correctly you reimburse taxpayers for your personal use of state-owned aircraft," the letter said.

According to the TV channel, last week during the Senate hearings, the FBI director refused to answer the Republican senators' questions and flew to New York on an official plane. This was the reason for new questions from the Republicans.

"You reportedly travelled on an FBI Gulfstream 550 aircraft originally intended for counterterrorism activities… It was reported that you have done similar personal flights on government planes before… Despite the fact that some federal officials are allowed to use official aircraft for personal or political purposes, such expenses should be compensated," it noted.

Republican lawmakers in the letter requested documents related to Director Ray's flights and proof of reimbursement no later than August 29.

FBI representatives have not yet commented on the initiatives of Republican congressmen who became interested in the flights of the FBI director a few days after federal agents raided the residence of former US President Donald Trump (Republican) and seized secret government documents stored there. Now the ex-president faces charges of violating federal legislation in the field of national security, which provides for long prison terms.