Al Jazeera Network building in Doha, Qatar
Al Jazeera Network building in Doha, QatariStock

Nineteen members of the US Congress on Tuesday sent a letter to the US Justice Department demanding the Qatari Al Jazeera network be investigated as a foreign agent.

The demand comes after Al Jazeera created a documentary on the Israeli lobby in the US.

The letter demands Congress clarify whether "Qatar’s Al Jazeera, which the US State Department has indicated is state-controlled," should be required to register under the 1938 US Foreign Agents Registration Act.

"We find it troubling that the content produced by this network often directly undermines American interests with favorable coverage of U.S. State Department-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria," the letter read. "American citizens deserve to know whether the information and news media they consume is impartial, or if it is deceptive propaganda pushed by foreign nations," the letter said.

Al Jazeera, the letter noted, has "record of radical anti-American, anti-Semitic, and anti-Israel broadcasts," and regulators should therefore investigate whether the network violates US law.

According to The Washington Free Beacon, Al Jazeera made "a secret effort last year to spy on the American Jewish community as part of a documentary" and "claims will expose Jewish control of the media." The network has also "been sending letters to a slew of Jewish organizations and pro-Israel individuals asking them to comment on what appears to be secret recordings."

A Justice Department spokeswoman said officials there are aware of the letter, but had no further comment.

Sixeen Republicans and three Democrats signed the letter.