The Justice Department is facing fresh scrutiny from Capitol Hill after allegations that it is quietly tracking the search activity of members of Congress reviewing the Jeffrey Epstein case files.
During a Feb. 11 House Judiciary Committee hearing, a photographer captured what appeared to be the contents of Attorney General Pam Bondis binder, according to the Daily Caller. The image, first highlighted by MSNBC congressional correspondent Ali Vitali, appeared to show a page labeled as Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapals search history in connection with the DOJs controlled release of Epstein-related records.
A close-up of the binder page showed a bold header reading Jayapal Pramila Search History, with a series of entries listed beneath it. Those entries appeared to be keyword searches, many beginning with EFTA followed by six-digit numerical sequences, suggesting an internal cataloging or tracking system.
Below the search list, the page appeared to feature a web-style diagram, resembling an investigative chart. At the center was a photograph of Jeffrey Epstein, with an image of his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell positioned to the left, connected by lines.
Branching out from Epstein and Maxwell were five additional faces, according to the image, each seemingly part of the same network diagram. The identifying details of six more individuals appeared to be blacked out, indicating that the DOJ is still concealing significant information from public view.
Rep. Jayapal reacted sharply after the hearing, posting a statement on X condemning what she described as DOJ surveillance of lawmakers. 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, she wrote.
The document, which appeared to be part of a stapled packet tucked inside Bondis binder, has prompted questions about the scope of the DOJs monitoring practices. Lawmakers and observers are now asking whether the list allegedly includes all members of Congress who have accessed the Epstein files, or whether it is limited to Democrats or a narrower subset of officials.
Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, one of the original four GOP members to sign onto the discharge resolution for the Epstein Transparency Act, directly addressed the issue in an interview with MeidasTouch Network on Feb. 11. The congresswoman also took to X to allege that she had discovered how to verify whether the DOJ was tracking members activity as they navigated the files.
Im pretty tech savvy. Ive played around with the system. Theyre tracking every file that we open. And when we open it, they are tracking everything. And you can see the way that theyre tracking you, when youre allowed in, if you know where to look like I do, she told MeidasTouch.
When the reporter pressed her on how others might locate that information, Mace declined to give specifics, saying she did not want to tip off DOJ officials. I dont want to say because I dont want them to hide it, but I can see how theyre tracking us. They give each of us a log in with their name attached to it and every single file that we open, regardless of if we even read it every single file that we open, that file is tagged with our name. So they get the search history and the files that we opened everything, the congresswoman continued.
The reporter then asked Mace about the accessibility and design of the system used to review the Epstein records. It looked like Microsoft from 95, she said, describing the platform as clunky, though she added that by her second day working with it she had become more adept at navigating its functions.
For conservatives already wary of an increasingly powerful federal bureaucracy, the notion that the DOJ may be logging and cataloging the private research activity of elected representatives raises serious separation-of-powers and civil liberties concerns.
As lawmakers push for full disclosure through measures like the Epstein Transparency Act, the emerging dispute over digital surveillance inside a secure review room underscores a deeper question: whether the same agency controlling access to explosive files is also quietly monitoring those who dare to look. The Daily Caller reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
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