Bipartisan lawmakers decry Justice Department for 'spying' on their Epstein searches at DOJ HQ

Lawmakers in both parties Thursday expressed concern that the Justice Department was monitoring and recording their searches of the unredacted Epstein Files at the department's headquarters, accusing the department of spying on them. 

The Justice Department said last week that lawmakers can review unredacted versions of the released documents regarding Jeffrey Epstein at its headquarters. During their reviews, lawmakers are allowed to take notes but not bring in electronic devices.

The outcry comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi was photographed with a binder during a hearing Wednesday that included a document labeled “Jayapal Pramila Search History."

“It is totally inappropriate and against the separations of powers for the DOJ to surveil us as we search the Epstein files," Jayapal said 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. That is outrageous and I intend to pursue this and stop this spying on members."

The Justice Department defended the document in a statement to The Hill, claiming the DOJ "logs all the searches made on its systems to protect against the release of victim information.”

Despite the defense, House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was "inappropriate" for the executive branch to be monitoring lawmakers.

“I think members should obviously have the right to peruse those at their own speed and with their own discretion," Johnson told reporters. "I don’t think it’s appropriate for anybody to be tracking that. So, I will echo that to anybody involved with the DOJ. And I’m sure it was an oversight. That’s my guess."

House Judiciary Ranking Member Jamie Raskin said he will be calling for the DOJ’s Inspector General to investigate the incident. 

“Bondi and her team are spying on Members of Congress conducting oversight in yet another blatant attempt to intrude into Congress’s oversight processes,” he said in a statement. “It is an outrage that DOJ is tracking members’ investigative steps undertaken to ensure that DOJ is complying with the Epstein File Transparency Act and using this information for the Attorney General’s embarrassing polemical purposes."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.