House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is demanding President Joe Biden's White House answer how a UK national with a criminal history was allowed to fly to the United States where he held four people hostage at a synagogue in Texas over the weekend.
In addition to condemning the attack, he and other national Republican figures like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have been grilling the administration over its handling of the incident.
Many accused the president of directing more federal law enforcement resources toward American parents protesting Critical Race Theory and mask mandates in public schools.
There is growing outrage and demand for answers as to how the British terrorist gunman who took four hostages at a synagogue in Colleyville on Saturday was even able to enter the US on a tourist visa when he was known to intelligence agencies in the UK.
The FBI has declined to comment on the matter.
Malik Faisal Akram, 44, flew to New York City from the UK on January 22, despite being known to MI5 and having a criminal record.
'Over the past 48 hours, President Biden’s Justice Department has gone from denying the clear and religious, anti-Semitic implications of this attack to now backtracking to what we all already knew to be true. Now as more information becomes available, it only raises more questions,' McCarthy said in a statement first sent to DailyMail.com.
The top Republican in the House of Representatives said the information coming out of Biden' Justice Department about the Texas synagogue crisis raises 'more questions'
The top GOP lawmaker in the House of Representatives accused Biden officials of 'downplaying' the attack and demanded to know why the FBI 'initially disregard[ed] the role anti-Semitism played in this hostage situation.'
'How was it that someone with an apparent criminal record and suspicious travel history was allowed into the United States to begin with?' he also questioned. 'What national security concerns remain?'
DeSantis' spokeswoman told DailyMail.com, 'Governor DeSantis condemns antisemitism in the strongest possible terms.
'The terrorist was clearly driven by antisemitic hate, which is why he targeted the synagogue, and it is appalling that the initial statement from the FBI as reported by corporate media initially obfuscated that fact,' spokeswoman Christina Pushaw said.
'While we do not have the details of how this UK national with a criminal record was able to go to Texas and attack the synagogue, this is exactly the kind of national security threat that the FBI ought to prevent. But instead, the Biden Administration is weaponizing the FBI against political dissidents, such as concerned parents making their voices heard at school board meetings.'
Malik Faisal Akram, 44, flew to New York City from the UK on January 22, despite being known to MI5
GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell of New Mexico told DailyMail.com it was 'deeply disturbing' that Akram was able to enter the United States.
'It is deeply disturbing that the Beth Israel synagogue terrorist was able to come to this country with a criminal record, by some accounts on a federal watch list, and be able to attack a Jewish place of worship with the goal of freeing another terrorist,' Herrell said.
'The situation becomes even more alarming when President Biden pretends to be unaware of the gunman’s motives and unclear about the details of the case.
'The Biden administration seems more concerned with calling parents at PTA “domestic terrorists” than actually catching and stopping real criminals.'
Texas Senator Ted Cruz said the details so-far known of the attack were 'highly concerning.'
He told DailyMail.com: 'A full investigation must be completed, any anyone else found to have been involved in this attack or otherwise engaged in illegal activity should be brought to justice.'
Akram's family say he had a criminal history but somehow, he was able to get an ESTA tourist visa - which are supposed to be off-limits to foreigners who have broken the law.
Akram spent two weeks at a homeless shelter in Dallas, during which time he was able to buy a gun on the street.
Police are piecing together the terrorist's final movements after arriving at JFK airport by January 2 before staying in a homeless hostel run by a Christian charity before launching the attack on January 15
There is growing fury and intrigue over how the gunman was even able to enter the US when he was known to British authorities, and had to apply to US Customs and Border Protection for a visa
On Saturday, he arrived at Beth Israel Congregation in the morning and knocked on the window. He was welcomed inside by the rabbi, had a cup of tea with him, and then raided services at 11am while the congregation was praying.
The standoff lasted nearly 12 hours before he was shot dead by a SWAT team. None of the hostages were hurt.
'How long did the FBI know a radical Islamist foreign national with a criminal record was in the country? Were they working with him or his associates?
'How did this person get a visa? Did he slip through the cracks because they were too busy surveilling your conservative grandma?' Donald Trump Jr. tweeted.
'They don’t want us to talk about how a known jihadist got past the FBI and into the country, obtained an illegal firearm, and took hostages at a synagogue,' Jasec Posobiec said.
Stephen Miller, Trump's former adviser, tweeted that 'every journalist' should be asking whether Biden changing vetting laws for tourists contributed to the incident.
Officers are seen surrounding the building in Texas on Saturday
