Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Thursday raised concerns after photographs appeared to show the Justice Department tracking the search history of members of Congress reviewing files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, prompting calls for a watchdog probe and drawing a rare rebuke from House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate what he described as "spying” on lawmakers who this week reviewed less-redacted Epstein files at a department annex using department-owned computers.
Photographs taken during Attorney General Pam Bondi’s appearance before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday showed her holding a binder open to a page labeled "Jayapal Pramila Search History,” listing documents that were apparently reviewed. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., was among committee members who pressed Bondi over the department’s handling of the Epstein records.
Jayapal called the situation "totally unacceptable” and said lawmakers would demand "a full accounting” of how the department was using search history data.
"Bondi has enough time to spy on Members of Congress, but can’t find it in herself to apologize to the survivors of Epstein’s horrific abuse,” Jayapal said in a post on X.
The Justice Department said in a statement that, as part of allowing lawmakers to review the files, it "logs all searches made on its systems to protect against the release of victim information.” The department did not explain why Bondi brought information about lawmakers’ searches to the hearing.
Spokespeople for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment, and a representative for the inspector general’s office declined to comment.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican and close ally of President Donald Trump, said he did not believe it was appropriate for the department to track lawmakers’ searches.
"I think members should obviously have the right to peruse those at their own speed and with their own discretion. I don’t think it’s appropriate for anybody to be tracking that,” Johnson told reporters. "I will echo that to anybody involved with the DOJ – and I’m sure it was an oversight.”
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has traveled in recent days to a Justice Department facility to review less-redacted Epstein records. Some members have complained that too much information about Epstein’s associates remains withheld.
Last month, the Trump administration’s Justice Department said it was releasing more than 3 million pages of documents, along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images related to investigations into Epstein.
In his statement, Raskin said the department had not only withheld records from lawmakers but was now intruding into Congress’s oversight process.
"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 – as required by federal law,” he said.