Bipartisan outrage erupted in Congress Thursday (February 13) after revelations that the Department of Justice has been monitoring what lawmakers search for when reviewing unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files.
The controversy emerged during Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, when a photograph captured her holding a document labeled “Jayapal Pramila Search History” that listed Epstein files the Democratic representative had viewed.
“It is totally inappropriate and against the separations of powers for the DOJ to surveil us as we search the Epstein files,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wrote in a post on X. “Bondi showed up today with a burn book that held a printed search history of exactly what emails I searched.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) joined the criticism Thursday, telling reporters, “I don’t think it’s appropriate for anybody to be tracking that. So I will echo that to anybody involved with DOJ, and I’m sure it was an oversight.”
The DOJ began allowing lawmakers this week to view unredacted Epstein files at department headquarters on DOJ computers. A Justice Department spokesperson defended the practice, saying the agency “logs all searches made on its systems to protect against the release of victim information.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, has demanded an inspector general investigation into what he characterized as “spying on Members of Congress conducting oversight.”
“DOJ must immediately cease tracking any Members’ searches, open up the Epstein review to senior congressional staff, and publicly release all files—with all the survivors’ information, and only the survivors’ information, properly redacted,” Raskin said in a statement.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Thursday there would be “accountability” for the DOJ’s actions, either “right now” or “in the aftermath of the November midterm elections.”
The backlash adds to growing congressional frustration over the department’s handling of Epstein records. At Wednesday’s oversight hearing, Bondi faced criticism from lawmakers in both parties who accused the department of mishandling survivors’ information and improperly redacting files naming prominent individuals.
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