House Oversight Dems demand FBI probe of Parler's role as 'potential facilitator' of violence in Capitol riot

Carolyn Maloney, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is asking the FBI to conduct a "robust examination" of the role social media site Parler played in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, specifically whether the platform was a "potential facilitator" of planning or inciting the violence. 

Maloney, D-N.Y., in a letter to the FBI Thursday, requested that the FBI review whether Parler facilitated planning and questioned whether it is "a potential conduit for foreign governments who may be financing civil unrest in the United States."

Maloney pointed to a number of individuals who have been arrested and charged threatening violence against elected officials or for their role in participating directly in the Capitol riot, and said the Justice Department alleged that some conspirators posted threatening message on Parler.

"It is clear that Parler houses additional evidence critical to investigations of the attack on the Capitol," Maloney wrote.

Fox News is requesting comment from Parler.

In her letter, Maloney went on to point to questions raised about "Parler’s financing and its ties to Russia."

The intelligence community has warned, repeatedly, that Russia, as well as other adversaries, have used social media and other measures "to sow discord in the United States and interfere with our democracy."

"The company was founded by John Matze shortly after he traveled to Russia with his wife, who is Russian and whose family reportedly has ties to the Russian government," Maloney wrote, adding that "concerns about the company’s connections to Russia have grown" since the company "re-emerged on a Russian hosting service, DDos-Guard, after being denied services by Amazon Web Services."