Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Immigration Subcommittee, are demanding the Department of Justice (DOJ) immediately cease its obstruction and intimidation of Members of Congress by covertly monitoring their searches of the ’redacted’ Epstein files. Rep. Pramila Jayapal's searches of the files were in Attorney General Bondi’s hands during her testimony to Congress.
In the letter, the Ranking Members wrote, “This surveillance of Members as we perform our constitutional oversight duties, done without our knowledge or consent, is a blatant violation of the separation of powers and further evidence that this DOJ will stop at nothing to protect Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s co-conspirators, accomplices, and enablers while denying justice to survivors and the American people.”
The Members are demanding a meeting with Attorney General Bondi to develop a new protocol that allows Members of Congress to meaningfully review the fully unredacted documents—including by giving access to review terminals on the Capitol Complex and access for select Committee staffers. They are also demanding that the DOJ (1) publicly release all files—with all the survivors’ information, and only the survivors’ information, properly redacted—as required by law and (2) provide information regarding the purpose and extent of the surveillance of Members.
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