FBI should have arrested Orlando shooter, Grassley says

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said on Tuesday that had the FBI 'been on top of things,” it could have arrested Omar Mateen before he went on his murderous rampage in Orlando, killing 49 people.

Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters he saw no need for an expansion of gun control legislation, and he sent a letter to the Obama administration asking a series of questions about Mateen and his family.

Grassley's comments come as law enforcement and Congress are focusing on what led up to the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. The Obama administration and congressional Democrats have called for stronger gun laws.

On a conference call with radio reporters Tuesday, Grassley said, 'We basically have to get over that this is about guns.” Instead, when asked what could have been done to prevent what happened in Orlando, Grassley turned to the FBI.

'If the FBI had been on top of things, he could have been arrested based upon the suspicions that they had beforehand,” Grassley said, according to Iowa Public Radio.

Authorities have said Mateen was on a federal watch list in 2013 and 2014 after questions were raised about him, including his acquaintance with a Florida man who launched a suicide attack in Syria. He was removed from the list in early 2014.

Grassley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Secretary of State John Kerry, the Iowa Republican asked for law enforcement records related to Mateen, as well as answers to whether his family members have refugee status or what types of visas they sought.

Mateen's parents came to the U.S. from Afghanistan.

Grassley cited a news report saying that Mateen's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, hosts a television program with a 'pro-Taliban slant.” He also asked for travel records for the family and whether the younger Mateen was ever a government contractor for Homeland Security or the State Department. Grassley's information request included Mateen's wife and ex-wife.

FBI Director James Comey has defended the bureau's handling of the case.

'I don't see anything in reviewing our work that our agents should have done differently,” Comey said, according to an ABC News report Monday.

'Our investigation involved introducing confidential sources to him, recording conversations with him, following him, reviewing transactional records from his communications and searching all government holdings for any possible connections, any possible derogatory information. We then interviewed him twice,” Comey said.

The cases were closed, officials said, because they did not have enough information to tie Mateen to terrorist activities.