WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has recorded a sharp spike in complaints that its own agents and employees have engaged in sexual misconduct, ranging from assault to harassment, despite a pledge by bureau leaders to eliminate the longstanding problem.

An Associated Press investigation found the FBI has received nearly 300 allegations of sexual misconduct since the bureau announced in 2021 it had launched an agency-wide crackdown.

The number marked a nearly 50% increase over complaints filed during the preceding four-year period, according to bureau statistics, an increase advocates and lawmakers described as a sign the bureau is struggling to protect women in a male-dominated workplace. The FBI, for its part, said the increase shows its reforms are making it easier to report misconduct.

“Enough is enough,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican, told the AP in a statement, adding he’ll be using his role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee “to get answers and root out further FBI misconduct.” He blamed former FBI Director Christopher Wray for allowing “the problem of sexual misconduct at the FBI to fester.”

FBI says spike due to crackdown

The FBI told AP it takes allegations of sexual misconduct “extremely seriously” and acts upon them “expeditiously.” Bureau officials have attributed the spike in complaints, in part, to their outreach efforts.

“We have come a long way in addressing it in various ways using all the policy tools and legal means at our disposal,” the FBI said in a statement, “but we absolutely have more to do in accomplishing a meaningful and long-lasting cultural evolution that honors FBI Director Wray’s commitment to eradicating sexual misconduct throughout the organization.”

The FBI declined to provide details about the incidents, citing federal privacy laws and internal guidelines. A monthslong AP investigation, however, revealed that the incidents ranged from sexual assault to agents paying for sex at massage parlors. Other allegations concerned agents making inappropriate sexual comments at office functions or commenting on co-workers’ appearances.

Some allegations were so serious they resulted in criminal investigations or charges. Late last year, an FBI agent in Maryland, Eduardo Valdivia, 40, was charged with sexually assaulting two women he contacted through social media with a promise to give them free tattoos and modeling work. His defense attorney, Robert Bonsib, said Valdivia disputes “all allegations that he engaged in any criminal conduct and expects to be cleared of all charges.”

The victims usually were agency employees, though others were women whom agents came across during investigations or met socially. At least a dozen sexual misconduct allegations involved supervisors, the AP found, including at least one top agent.

The FBI determined more than half of the claims warranted internal investigations, statistics show, though the bureau refused to disclose how many resulted in terminations or other discipline.

Time of upheaval at FBI

The AP’s findings come at a moment of significant upheaval in the FBI. Wray, a Republican appointed by then-President Donald Trump in 2017, spent years under withering attacks for various investigations involving Trump. Rather than be fired, Wray stepped down a day before Trump took office on Jan. 20.

Trump has tapped Kash Patel, a strident supporter and former federal prosecutor, to take over as the next director of the FBI. Patel’s spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on how he would tackle the issue of sexual misconduct. His confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

While Trump and Patel have focused almost exclusively on claims of political weaponization and biased probes in their promises to overhaul the bureau, some lawmakers see the FBI’s record on sexual misconduct as another compelling reason to clean house.

Last year, the Justice Department agreed to pay more than $22 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging female FBI recruits had been routinely harassed by instructors with sexually charged comments about their breast size, false allegations of infidelity and the need to take contraception “to control their moods.”

In interviews, more than a dozen current and former FBI agents said that male-dominated culture would be the hardest to change. A former analyst who once aspired to become the bureau’s first female director said she intentionally gained 30 pounds hoping a harasser would stop “talking about my body.”