House Speaker Johnson calls Justice Department’s oversight of members reviewing unredacted Epstein files “inappropriate.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday expressed concerns about the Justice Department tracking lawmakers’ search history of unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files, though he questioned whether the monitoring was intentional or a mistake — even though the data was compiled for the attorney general’s search file at Wednesday’s House Judiciary hearing.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for anyone to keep track of that. So, I’ll repeat that to anyone at the Department of Justice. I’m sure it was an oversight, that’s my guess, okay?” Johnson said.

On Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal She accused prosecutor Pam Bondi of “spying” on her search history When the congresswoman visited the Department of Justice earlier this week View the unredacted files of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Since Monday, lawmakers have been allowed to visit the Justice Department to review unredacted files on four computer kiosks.

Photos from Reuters by A House Judiciary Committee hearing The one in which Bondi appeared on Wednesday displays a printout titled: “Jayapal-Pramila Research History” and includes a diagram of several documents from the Justice Department’s Epstein files that Jayapal researched.

The Justice Department said Thursday afternoon that while reviewing Epstein’s unredacted files, the Department of Justice “recorded all searches conducted on its systems to protect against disclosure of victim information.” The Justice Department provided no explanation as to why Bundy obtained a printout of Jayapal’s search history.

Johnson, who received Jayapal’s account of the incident in a phone call with the congresswoman on Wednesday evening, added that members should have the “right” to view the files “at their own pace and at their own discretion.”

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace also said she believed the Justice Department was tracking her as it reviewed the unredacted documents.

Across the aisle, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he was not surprised the Justice Department tracked their search history “because the bar is so low.”

“There is no bottom line for the Trump administration, Pam Bondi, and the other sycophants who are part of this corrupt administration,” he added. Jeffries said Thursday.

Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz said every lawmaker who reviews Epstein’s unredacted files receives a specific login to log into a computer to see the documents — rather than terminals open for use, which Moskowitz called “suspicious.”

“I mean, I’m not embarrassed by the documents I’ve been looking at, so I don’t know that it’s too confusing. But it’s inappropriate. “We should have been informed,” Moskowitz said.

Jayapal told reporters Thursday that “there has to be a whole new process” where lawmakers are assured that the Justice Department “is not spying on us and keeping our search history and then using it against us.”

“Surveilling us, spying on us, and then using it in a ‘book burning’ case against us is completely unacceptable, and therefore the process must change immediately,” Jayapal told ABC News’ Capitol Hill correspondent Jay O’Brien. “They can’t save our search history. They can’t spy on us, and that’s what we’re asking for.”

There is a “need for accountability,” Jayapal said, adding that Democrats are “looking at all options for that.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the committee leading Bondi’s hearing on Wednesday, said in a statement that he intends to ask the Justice Department’s inspector general to open an investigation into the matter.

Jayapal said she would welcome Republican cooperation in the process.

“I think there are a lot of Republicans who don’t like this. They were also spied on when they went, and so I hope this is a bipartisan effort to say this is completely inappropriate. It has to stop,” she said.

But the chair who presided over Wednesday’s hearing, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, brushed aside concerns that the Justice Department was monitoring lawmakers’ search history.

“I mean come on, it’s pretty rich. It’s pretty rich to hear complaints after what the Justice Department did to Republican members of Congress under Jack Smith,” Jordan said, referring to the movie “Arctic Frost,” which seized phone records of several Republicans.

Jordan confirmed that the Justice Department had his phone records for two and a half years, as did former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“They knew who the speaker was calling before the vote, who was calling after the vote, when the call occurred, how long it lasted, and where he was,” Jordan said. “And now they’re raising this issue? Okay.”

Jayapal urged Republicans to “be consistent on this.”

“I have worked with many colleagues across the aisle, including Chairman Jordan [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] And monitoring. This is a clear example of that.” she said.