U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to reporters while walking to the House floor for a vote at the U.S. Capitol on day three of a partial government shutdown in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Al Drago
A revealing photo from Attorney General Pam Bondi's folder that she kept on hand to insult lawmakers at a Wednesday testimony suggested she was using federal resources to snoop lawmakers’ internet search history.
The Independent is now reporting that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wants her to stop.
A photographer captured a page out of Bondi’s briefing binder that appeared to show a document detailing the files that Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) had searched on a DOJ computer. The photo of Jayapal’s apparent search in Bondi’s so-called “burn book,” caused outrage among members of Congress.
“We’re out there trying to do our investigative oversight, and they’ve structured a situation where they’re basically spying on our every move,” Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told The Independent. “So the attorney general knows what material we've looked at. I would have liked to have known what material she was looking at before she came in.”
Even House Speaker Mike Johnson, an unwavering ally to the administration of President Donald Trump, took issue with the idea of Bondi using federal resources to procure kompromat to retaliate during the Wednesday hearing.
“I've heard the allegations I'm looking into that myself,” Johnson told The Independent on Thursday. “It would obviously be an important line that's crossed, and obviously we can't allow for that.”
Bondi delivered few answers but considerable acrimony during the combative Wednesday testimony before the Judiciary Committee. Much of the back and forth collapsed into personal attacks and sniping against Democrats. And despite her inside knowledge pertaining to the survivors of Epstein’s abuse in her opening remarks, when victims stood during the hearing for an apology, Bondi did not even turn to face them. Instead she told the committee chairman that apologizing to the victims would be akin to getting “into the gutter" or participating in "theatrics."
One Epstein victim, Danielle Bensky — who was assaulted by Epstein when she was 17 years old, told reporters that Bondi was “just gaslighting the American people over and over by not answering direct questions.”
“[F]or me it was pure rage,” said Bensky. “... I could feel myself shaking with anger and frustration because it's bad enough that the redaction process was what it was. I feel like we've been re-victimized over and over again.”
