DOJ Allegedly Monitoring Lawmakers Accessing Epstein Records
Bondi’s binder seemed to include what lawmakers searched for when viewing unredacted Epstein files.
This article originally appeared on the Daily Caller News Foundation and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Ashley Brasfield
The Justice Department (DOJ) is allegedly monitoring lawmakers accessing records pertaining to the late convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Feb. 11, a photograph appeared to capture the contents of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s binder, according to a post by MS Now congressional correspondent Ali Vitali. The image seemed to show a page labeled as Democrat Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s “search history” during a review of the DOJ’s release of the Epstein files.
A photo of the binder taken during her testimony appeared to show a page bearing the header “Jayapal Pramila Search History.” Beneath it was seemingly a list of keyword searches that included entries labeled “EFTA” followed by a six-digit number sequences.
Beneath the search entries was a web-style diagram, according to the image. A photo of Jeffrey Epstein appeared to be in the center with an image of convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell positioned to the left.
In addition to Epstein and Maxwell, five other faces branched out from the center, according to the image. The faces and identifying details of six additional individuals were seemingly redacted on the page.
Jayapal responded to the image of the contents of Bondi’s binder on X after the hearing. “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 the binder — has fueled speculation about whether it allegedly listed all members of Congress who have visited the DOJ to review the files or only Democrat lawmakers.
Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, one of the original four Republicans to sign onto the discharge resolution for the Epstein Transparency Act, addressed the matter with a MeidasTouch Network reporter Feb. 11. The congresswoman alleged to the reporter and on X that she knew where to look to determine if the DOJ was tracking members as they searched the files.
“I’m pretty tech savvy. I’ve played around with the system. They’re tracking every file that we open. And when we open it, they are tracking everything. And you can see the way that they’re tracking you, when you’re allowed in, if you know where to look like I do,” she told MeidasTouch.
The reporter followed up by asking Mace how someone would be able to find that information.
“I don’t want to say because I don’t want them to hide it, but I can see how they’re 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 asked Mace how accessible the system was and what the setup looked like. “It looked like Microsoft from ’95,” she said, describing the system as “clunky.” However, Mace noted that by her second day reviewing the files, she had become more proficient navigating it.
The Daily Caller reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
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