During a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing, a contentious issue arose involving Attorney General Pam Bondi and allegations of surveillance by the Justice Department. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) sparked a debate on Thursday by suggesting that the Department may be monitoring members of Congress who accessed the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files. This claim followed the circulation of an image purportedly showing Bondi with printed search logs.
The focal point of the controversy was a photograph of Bondi at the hearing, holding a binder open to a page that seemed to display a database search history related to a congressional member's access to the files. Rep. Mace conveyed her concerns to South Carolina reporters, describing the contents as resembling internal search records of legislators reviewing evidence.
"She had her folder open, and you saw an image of a search history, of a member of Congress in the software, in the database," Mace described. The Representative questioned the rationale behind the Attorney General's possession of such material, asking, "Why is the DOJ, why is the Attorney General, carrying around a folder of the search histories of members of Congress who only simply want the truth?"
The revelation comes as the Justice Department recently made over three million Epstein-related documents available, with many still heavily redacted. Lawmakers had just been given access to view the unredacted files on DOJ-controlled computers. Amidst the controversy, roughly three million additional documents are yet to be released, adding to the pressure on the department for complete transparency.
The page in question reportedly referred to Washington Democrat Pramila Jayapal and contained unsettling phrases that echoed language found in Epstein's emails, raising further alarms. Mace, who is a member of the House Oversight Committee, has called for Bondi to be questioned by lawmakers regarding the search logs and their acquisition.
During the hearing, Mace criticized Bondi's responses, or lack thereof, to questions about transparency, recounting an instance where the Attorney General deflected a tough question by discussing stock market performance. "When she was asked a tough question, she discussed the Dow and how high the stock market was doing," Mace said. "It’s shameful."
In defense of the administration's record, Bondi redirected attention to economic achievements, citing the Dow's performance and the growth of Americans' retirement savings. This stance, however, faced criticism for not adequately addressing the handling of sensitive congressional review data.
President Donald Trump, who currently holds office, endorsed Bondi's performance during the hearing via Truth Social, calling her efforts "fantastic." Despite acknowledgment from the President, the core issue remains unresolved: whether the DOJ indeed tracked lawmaker activity within the Epstein file database. If substantiated, this could lead to significant friction between Congress and the executive branch.
As of now, Bondi has not provided a comprehensive explanation as to why the search records were present in her notes. Nonetheless, Republicans have vowed to pursue the matter until a satisfactory response is obtained.
