GOP Rep. Darin LaHood says he thinks FBI unlawfully monitored him

Illinois Republican Rep. Darin LaHood said Thursday that he thinks that the FBI unlawfully monitored him.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in December declassified a report stating that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 was abused by the FBI under Section 702, which allows the federal government "to conduct targeted surveillance of foreign persons located outside the United States, with the compelled assistance of electronic communication service providers, to acquire foreign intelligence information," according to Fox News.

The FBI inappropriately used Section 702 to repeatedly search for a member of Congress, who was not named, the intelligence report stated.

"I want to make clear the FBI's inappropriate querying of a duly elected member of Congress is egregious and a violation not only that degrades the trust in FISA, but is viewed as a threat to the separation of powers," LaHood said during Thursday's House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing. "I have had the opportunity to review the classified summary of this violation, and it is my opinion that the member of Congress that was wrongfully queried multiple times solely by his name was in fact me."

Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said: "As Darin LaHood announced, he believes that he is the unidentified congressman that was improperly FISA-queried. In this public statement, he personifies the fears and mistrust many in America have about the FBI's leadership. They have permitted consistent abuse of a program that was supposed to protect Americans from foreign threats."

LaHood, who has served in Congress since 2015, leads the working group on renewing Section 702.