Members of Congress are calling for investigations after it emerged that the Department of Justice (DoJ) has been logging their searches of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Photographs taken during a House hearing on Wednesday showed US Attorney General Pam Bondi holding a document titled “Jayapal Pramila Search History”, listing files accessed by Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal.
The tracking came to light after lawmakers were granted access to unredacted Epstein materials under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House judiciary committee, described the practice as “an outrageous abuse of power” and said he would ask the DoJ inspector general to open an inquiry. The DoJ confirmed it monitors all Epstein file searches to protect victim information.
Raskin detailed a review process he said was designed for surveillance: lawmakers must travel to a DoJ annex, use department-owned computers, and read documents while staff watch over their shoulders. “It is the perfect set-up for the DoJ to spy on members’ review,” he said. The document Bondi held appeared designed to help her anticipate questions from Jayapal based on her search history.
Jayapal called the practice “totally inappropriate” and a violation of the separation of powers. Representative Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, described the monitoring as “creepy” and noted that DoJ staff log every document opened. Jayapal said she discussed the matter with House Speaker Mike Johnson, who called such practices “inappropriate” if they occurred, though he declined to directly criticise the DoJ.
