Congressman John Mica hopes to hold a congressional hearing on the Pulse nightclub attack so lawmakers, and the public, can find out how the FBI handled previous investigations into the shooter.

  • Congressman Mica calls for Pulse attack hearing
  • Wants to investigate FBI's handling of Omar Mateen
  • Mica made statement at east Orange County Hob Nob

Mica and the man who’s running against him in the Republican primary agree on one thing: both believe the federal government made mistakes in its handling of the terrorist watch list, and its investigation into Omar Mateen.

“The federal government failed, and we can’t let it happen again whether it’s Orlando, San Bernardino, Boston or anywhere where terrorists have hit Americans,” said Mica.

“I know they interviewed him a number of times, but why did they stop? And why did they stop addressing it?” said Mark Busch, a Republican candidate running for the House District 7 congressional seat.

We caught up with Mica and Busch at the East Side Regional Hob Nob at the University of Central Florida Wednesday evening. 

The event is a political meet-and-greet for candidates and voters.

Mica says his staff is having several closed-door meetings with officials close to the FBI’s investigation.  But he says he would like for a congressional hearing to take place – possibly in the next couple of weeks – so that the public can get a detailed look at how federal authorities handled their previous investigations into Mateen.

“From the local level we still mourn the loss of people, but from the federal level we’ve got the responsibility to correct it, and make sure we get it right in the future,” said Mica.

Busch believes the federal government could better protect people by keeping a close eye on anyone identifying themselves with militant Islam.

“We have home-grown terrorists,” said Busch. “They may not be in direct contact with militant Islam overseas, but be radicalized here. It doesn’t matter if they have a specific phobia, or hate to a specific group.  As soon as they identify themselves with militant Islam, we have to just call it what it is.”

Mica wants a hearing involving the FBI to happen before this summer’s presidential political conventions in July. If it doesn’t happen then, he says it would likely happen in September when Congress returns from summer break.