The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee wants to know why Omar Mateen was removed from a terror watch list before he killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., sent a letter on July 26 to Department of Justice inspector general Michael Horowitz to inquire why Mateen was placed on the Terrorist Screening Database in 2013, only to be removed by the FBI a year later, though he had been reported to the Bureau as a potential threat.

Related: Read the letter

"The terrorist attack against innocent Americans in Orlando, Fla.—by an individual who was on the TSDB but removed prior to his purchase of the firearms used in the attack—calls for a thorough, independent review of what the FBI did to investigate Mateen and the decision to remove Mateen from the TSDB," the letter said.

"It also calls for a thorough review of the Watchlisting Guidance to determine if the criteria are appropriate to balance the evolving nature of the lone wolf and other terrorist threats our nation faces, with the liberties and rights of law-abiding citizens."

In the letter, Johnson lays out Mateen's history, including his initial addition to the TSDB after self-proclaimed association with terrorism groups while working a contract security guard at the St. Lucie County Courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Johnson, who is seeking re-election for a second term and is widely considered one of the most vulnerable Republican senators, said that Mateen later recanted those statements, and added that the FBI didn't check the terrorist's social media accounts before closing its 10-month investigation.

Mateen was removed from the TSDB in March 2014, but drew federal attention that summer, when a member of his mosque, Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, blew himself up in an attack in Syria.

Not long after, the FBI interviewed Mateen again afterfollowing a friend reporteding him to the Bureau for having said he watched recruitment videos from Anwar al-Awlaki, finding them "powerful."

Authorities questioned him about his connection to the suicide bomber and his comments about the videos. Mateen denied watching them, but following the Orlando attack, the FBI said he had seen the videos as early as 2010.

Johnson, a supporter of presidential candidate Donald Trump, is calling for the inspector general to review the Mateen file, including the decision to remove him from the TSDB, citing concerns that an independent study is needed following perceived secrecy from FBI.

The senator also wants the inspector general's assessment of whether the criteria detection by the TSDB and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System need to be modified in the wake of the attack.

Mateen's June 12 attack was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

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