House Democrats Outraged by DOJ’s Alleged Tracking of Search Histories

House Democrats are expressing anger over claims that the Department of Justice (DOJ) monitored their search histories while investigating files related to Jeffrey Epstein at DOJ headquarters.

During a recent testimony, Attorney General Pam Bondi came under scrutiny after Representative Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., suggested that some of the monitored queries were hers, as captured in a photograph showing Bondi’s questionnaire printouts.

Jayapal described the monitoring as “totally inappropriate,” declaring, “We are going to demand that it be stopped.” The queries included terms like “Epstein Victim List – All Redacted” and “New Brazilian Just Arrived, Sexy and Cute 19-Year-Old.”

Meanwhile, the DOJ has yet to respond to requests for comment regarding the situation. The publicly available DOJ Epstein Library does contain a privacy disclaimer, but it asks users to report any accidental disclosure of a victim’s identity and does not reference any sort of data collection.

The dissatisfaction among Democrats raises questions about how to address the situation, with several lawmakers feeling that the DOJ’s actions violate the principle of separation of powers. Representative Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), a member of the House Oversight Committee, stated that the evidence shows the DOJ is attempting to control congressional investigative efforts.

Garcia questioned, “The fact that they’re following us while we’re searching, why would they do that?” He further asked, “What’s your explanation for tracking members and what we’re looking for? It makes no sense. We are very concerned about the process.”

In light of recent events, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have recently visited the DOJ to scrutinize the Epstein files stored on their premises. Representatives Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, are set to interrogate DOJ officials about the extent of undisclosed information.

Democrats assert that these investigations are indeed being monitored. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, indicated that there’s reason to believe that the surveillance was applied to all members who accessed the files.

To address the concerns, Garcia and Raskin propose transferring the relevant equipment to the Capitol so lawmakers can review it without oversight. Garcia mentioned, “It would help the process,” but he expressed frustration over the fact that many files are still not released, noting that half are stored away. “You can’t trust anything Bondi says anymore,” he added.

Amidst this turmoil, Garcia pointed out that some files may have already been redacted before being handed over from the FBI to the DOJ, suggesting that not all redactions may be attributed to the DOJ itself.

As the situation unfolds, Raskin intends to send a letter to the DOJ for further details on the alleged surveillance. While he did not detail additional measures Democrats might consider to curb these practices, he hinted that more information would be forthcoming soon, saying, “We’ll talk more about that later.”