A high-profile House Democrat is accusing Attorney General Pam Bondi of “spying” on her search history while she reviewed Jeffrey Epstein-related documents. The allegation comes after Bondi was seen at a combative congressional hearing on Wednesday with what appeared to be a list of the lawmaker’s searches.
One of the printouts Bondi referenced during the hearing was labeled “Jayapal Pramila Search History,” referring to Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington. The document listed at least eight different files from the Justice Department’s trove of Epstein records, including file numbers and brief descriptions of their contents, according to images taken by photojournalists covering the hearing.
It is not entirely clear how the list was compiled. Since Monday, the Justice Department has allowed several members of Congress to visit its offices and search through a database of unredacted Epstein files. In recent weeks, the department has made millions of records related to the late sex offender public, though many were redacted to remove survivors’ names and other sensitive information. Some lawmakers have criticized these redactions as excessive.
Jayapal issued a statement to CBS News on Wednesday, saying:
“It is totally inappropriate and against the separations of powers for the DOJ to surveil us as we search the Epstein files. 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.”
Jayapal’s office also stated that she is organizing a letter seeking an investigation into what she alleges is improper surveillance of lawmakers who reviewed the Epstein files.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, added in a statement that he will ask the Justice Department’s Inspector General to investigate what he called an “outrageous abuse of power.” Raskin told reporters, “This is just getting Orwellian with these people. They better cut it out immediately, now that they’ve been caught.”
CBS News has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
During an hourslong and often pugilistic House Judiciary Committee hearing that largely focused on the Justice Department’s handling of Epstein files, Jayapal was among the Democrats who sparred with Bondi. At one point, Jayapal pressed Bondi over the fact that some Epstein survivors’ personal information was left unredacted. She asked survivors attending the hearing to raise their hands if they had not yet met with the Justice Department, and requested that Bondi apologize for failing to protect their personal information.
In response, Bondi criticized Biden-era Attorney General Merrick Garland’s handling of the Epstein matter and said, “I’m not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bondi-epstein-files-search-history-hearing-pramila-jayapal/