A key Republican Senate chairman is demanding answers from the Justice Department and FBI on whether Obama-era officials secretly accessed the phones and computers of a reporter probing the “Fast and Furious” scandal and debacle in Benghazi, Libya.

In going to bat for award-winning investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson, Sen. Ron Johnson is reopening a case that prompted a federal judge to hit the government for stalling.

In his letter to Justice and the FBI, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said that “documented abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court applications” by the FBI in the Russia probe of President Trump raise new suspicions in the Attkisson case.

“I am especially concerned about these unresolved questions regarding the alleged surveillance of Ms. Attkisson,” said the Wisconsin lawmaker of the former CBS investigative reporter, now on Sinclair and host of the Full Measure show.

“It is well past time that Ms. Attkisson, Congress, and the American public receive answers to questions that have remained outstanding for over 6 years,” said Johnson.

According to Johnson and a 2015 suit filed by the journalist, Attkisson noticed “anomalies” with her work and personal electronic devices from 2011-2013 while she was probing the Fast and Furious gun scandal and the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi that ensnared then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Her suit was eventually dismissed after long delays by the Obama Justice Department, prompting dissenting Judge James Wynn Jr. to write that “Attkisson never got a meaningful opportunity to pursue her claims because the government did everything in its power to run out the clock.”

Other lawmakers have also sought to get answers to suspicions that her devices were hacked by the government, but never succeeded.

Wrote Johnson in the letter shown below:

“In 2013, as ranking member of this committee, Senator Tom Coburn sought answers from then-Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the government’s actions in the hacking and surveillance of Ms. Attkisson’s computers. In 2014, Senator Coburn sent a second letter noting that DOJ’s response answered none of his questions. In 2015, as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Charles Grassley also sought answers. In March 2018, I wrote to DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) and received a copy of its Abbreviated Report of Investigation regarding its analysis of Ms. Attkisson’spersonal laptop. To this day, however, other than DOJ OIG’s response, the government has successfully resisted providing any meaningful answers or insights into the matter.

“In light of the recently documented abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court applications by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), I am especially concerned about these unresolved questions regarding the alleged surveillance of Ms. Attkisson. It is well past time that Ms. Attkisson, Congress, and the American public receive answers to questions that have remained outstanding for over 6 years.”