Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) expressed her anger Wednesday after Attorney General Pam Bondi was photographed holding a printed compilation of the congresswoman’s search history of the Epstein files during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
Jayapal said in an X post that retrieving a congressmember’s file search history goes against the separation of powers and that she will pursue an investigation into the surveillance of Congress’s Epstein file inquiries.
“It is totally inappropriate and against the separations of powers for the DOJ to surveil us as we search the Epstein files,” Jayapal said. “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.”
The image, which circulated on social media following Bondi’s hearing before the House judiciary committee, showed Bondi holding a sheet of paper with Jayapal’s name and a list of Epstein file document numbers she had viewed.
Bondi’s appearance marked her first oversight hearing before the panel since her confirmation as the nation’s top law enforcement official, but what was advertised to be a Department of Justice operations review turned into a shouting match.
Congress was first allowed to view the unredacted versions of the Epstein files starting on Monday. The files were released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, though they were heavily redacted.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the panel’s top Democrat, told reporters Wednesday evening that he had “reason to believe that it was happening to everyone,” not just Jayapal.
During the hearing, the attorney general faced repeated criticism from Democrats over the department’s handling of the Epstein files and its failure to fully redact victims’ personal information.
At one point, Jayapal asked Bondi to turn around to the victims at the back of the room and apologize for not redacting their personal information.
SEVEN TAKEAWAYS FROM BONDI’S FIERY HOUSE TESTIMONY
Bondi refused and called Jayapal’s request “theatrics,” saying the blame falls on the previous administration.
Republican members of the committee, while broadly defending the DOJ’s record and Bondi’s leadership, largely did not address the search history issue directly. Some GOP lawmakers praised the administration’s work on other law enforcement priorities.