Attorney General Pam Bondi obtained Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s search historical past of the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files and even President Donald Trump’s strongest ally in Congress has an issue with it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday stated the Justice Department’s monitoring of lawmakers’ search historical past was inappropriate, a uncommon rebuke from the Republican who’s normally in lockstep with the administration.
“I think members should obviously have the right to peruse those at their own speed and with their own discretion and I don’t think it’s appropriate for anybody to be tracking that,” Johnson informed NCS. “I will echo that to anybody involved in the DOJ.”
Johnson’s feedback come after pictures of Bondi’s notes throughout a Wednesday congressional listening to revealed the Justice Department is monitoring which documents lawmakers are reviewing within the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein recordsdata, prompting some on Capitol Hill to sound the alarm.
NCS first reported the obvious surveillance from a photograph taken of Bondi’s notes throughout her testimony, which included Jayapal’s “search history” of the documents, with a listing of which recordsdata the congresswoman had searched.
Jayapal informed NCS she didn’t know the Justice Department had surveilled her search till NCS contacted her Wednesday for touch upon the matter.
“I think everyone should be concerned about this. It’s a violation of our separation of powers,” Jayapal stated. “We should be able to look at any document we want and not feel like it’s going to be surveilled or used against us in any way. And this was just so obviously egregious.”
When Johnson initially referred to as the allegation of DOJ monitoring lawmakers’ search historical past “unsubstantiated” on Wednesday, Jayapal, who’s shut with the speaker from his days serving on the Judiciary panel, instantly referred to as him to elucidate what occurred.
“I said, ‘Mike, it’s real. That’s my search history exactly in the order that I searched it,’” Jayapal informed NCS of her dialog with Johnson.
Lawmakers have been scheduling occasions this week to enter a Justice Department constructing in Washington, DC, to review unredacted variations of the recordsdata and have since pressured the Justice Department to unredact the names of people who had been at one time thought-about as co-conspirators in Epstein’s crimes.
Lawmakers haven’t been allowed to deliver telephones or members of their employees into the constructing to review the documents and are restricted to 4 computer systems arrange with the unredacted recordsdata.
When Jayapal went into the room to view the unredacted Epstein recordsdata, a Justice Department worker logged her into one of the 4 computer systems out there for lawmakers, the lawmaker stated.
During the period of her time within the room, Jayapal stated DOJ staffers remained together with her, and at one level one of the staff sat immediately behind her, capable of view her laptop display. Even although lawmakers had been allowed to usher in notes with them, Jayapal stated she was instructed to solely take notes on the pads of paper the Justice Department offered her.
A division spokesperson stated in a press release to NCS that “DOJ has extended Congress the opportunity to review unredacted documents in the Epstein files. As a part of that review, DOJ logs all searches made on its systems to protect against the release of victim information.”
Republican firebrand Nancy Mace has additionally spoken out concerning the monitoring of lawmakers’ searches, writing on social media Wednesday that “DOJ is tracking the Epstein documents Members of Congress search for, open, and review.”
“I was able to navigate the system today and I won’t disclose how or the nature of how; but confirmed the DOJ is TAGGING ALL DOCUMENTS Members of Congress search, open and review,” she stated.
In the aftermath, Jayapal stated the Justice Department must create a “completely different process” for lawmakers to review the unredacted recordsdata with out worry of their search historical past being saved or used in opposition to them.
The congresswoman stated needs to know why the DOJ set it up in such a approach {that a} lawmaker’s search historical past may very well be reviewed within the first place.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky stated probably the most “charitable” clarification for monitoring members’ search historical past was that DOJ needed to “improve their service” by serving to members discover probably the most continuously sought-after documents. But Massie stated that charitable view is undercut by Bondi carrying together with her a listing of Jaypal’s search phrases on the listening to “where she clearly was prepared with oppo resesarch” and introduced “flash cards with insults” to attempt to “embrass” the members.
“I think it’s kind of creepy that they were hoping to divine some line of attack based on our search histories,” Massie stated.
Massie has additionally criticized the DOJ for having sure redactions in recordsdata that lawmakers had been supposed to have the ability to view in an unredacted type. That makes it inconceivable, he argued, for Congress to entry all FBI recordsdata within the hundreds of thousands of pages launched by the Justice Department.
The legislation, handed by Congress and co-authored by Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, restricted which redactions DOJ may make, together with private info of victims and supplies that will jeopardize an lively felony investigation. But as NCS beforehand reported, some redactions described by the lawmakers didn’t line up with the legislation.
The Justice Department can also be required to provide Congress a privileged log explaining why sure redactions had been made by February 15.
The surveillance is reminiscent of the CIA’s efforts to spy on Senate intelligence committee staffers who had been conducting oversight into the CIA’s interrogation and torture ways that occurred within the wake of the 9/11 assault.
In March of 2014, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chaired the intelligence committee, stated she believed the CIA may have acted illegally in monitoring a standalone laptop community in northern Virginia utilized by staffers to entry categorized CIA materials.
The Justice Department finally declined to analyze the matter regardless of a referral from the Inspector General.