Democrats Demand Investigation Into Bondi’s Apparent Monitoring of Lawmakers Who Review Unredacted Epstein Files

House Democrats are demanding a comprehensive review of the Justice Department’s apparent monitoring of lawmakers’ search histories while reviewing the unredacted Epstein files. After a photographer snapped a photo of Attorney General Pam Bondi with a printed out list of one House member’s search history on Wednesday, the reaction was swift. Ms. Bondi spent most of the day on Wednesday testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, where she levied personal insults against Democrats while dodging most questions about the Epstein files. She brought with her binders full of opposition research on lawmakers — including a Republican, Congressman Thomas Massie — in order to deflect from giving hard answers. Alongside the binders, Ms. Bondi brought what appeared to be a black folder. Inside the pocket of that folder was a piece of paper labeled “Jayapal Pramila Search History” followed by a list of documents in the Epstein files. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who sits on the committee and questioned Ms. Bondi on Wednesday, recently reviewed the unredacted files in a database at the Department of Justice, which only lawmakers are able to access. The photo was taken by the Associated Press’s Roberto Schmidt. The top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Congressman Jamie Raskin, told reporters on Wednesday night that it appeared Ms. Bondi had been spying on his colleagues, who were unaware that the DOJ was monitoring what lawmakers were searching and viewing while visiting the Justice Department. “It is a violation of the separation of powers to essentially be monitoring our computer searches of the Epstein files,” he said. “I think it’s outrageous that they would do that … it’s Orwellian.” Mr. Raskin says it is likely that the monitoring happened to all House members who visited DOJ to review the unredacted files. In a statement just minutes later, Mr. Raskin demanded a full investigation. “Not only has the Department of Justice illegally withheld documents from Congress and the American people. Not only has Attorney General Bondi failed to bring a single indictment against a single co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. But now 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. In the wake of the apparent monitoring of members’ search histories, Mr. Raskin demanded that the “spying” stops, that senior congressional staff be able to review the documents, and to release all documents for the public to see. He also called on the Justice Department’s inspector general to open an investigation into the incident. In a statement to the New York Sun, the Justice Department confirmed that it is tracking the search histories of members of Congress who view the unreacted Epstein files. “As a part of that review, DOJ logs all searches made on its systems to protect against the release of victim information,” the department said. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who does not sit on the Judiciary Committee, says that if the DOJ is spying on lawmakers, then it is par for the course for Ms. Bondi. “They were using [search histories] as ammunition against them” at Wednesday’s hearing, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez told reporters. “I think it is because she knows that she is implicated is a massive coverup to protect a powerful ring of pedophiles through the redactions — the redactions of the names of perpetrators — the [withholding] of three million files, [and] the moving of unexplained moving of Ghislaine Maxwell into a new, cushy facility.”

Democrats Demand Investigation Into Bondi’s Apparent Monitoring of Lawmakers Who Review Unredacted Epstein Files

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