DOJ watchdog launches review of agency’s compliance with Epstein files law

Summary

• Acting inspector general William M. Blier announces audit
• Audit focuses on redactions in epstein and Maxwell investigations
• Epstein files transparency act mandates release of investigative files

The Justice Department‘s chief watchdog said Thursday that his office is launching an audit of the department’s compliance with the law compelling the release of millions of pages of investigative files tied to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The internal probe, announced by acting inspector general William M. Blier, will focus on how the department reviewed and redacted documents tied to its multiple sex-trafficking investigations of Epstein and his longtime companion Ghislaine Maxwell. It will also examine how department officials addressed concerns raised by victims and some lawmakers over information made public as well as documents that were held back.

In a statement, Blier’s office said it intends to release a final report that will address those concerns following the completion of the audit.

The review is sure to further stoke a controversy that has remained a persistent pain point for the Trump administration during the first year of his second term.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act was passed by Congress last year and signed into law by President Donald Trump. It required the Justice Department to release all files related to its investigations, with exceptions for materials that might compromise a continuing investigation, disclose the identity of a victim or constitute child sexual abuse material.

Afterward, the department struggled to meet the congressionally imposed deadline for those releases, and multiple lawmakers criticized the department for making public documents that revealed private information about victims. Others questioned whether the department redacted names of influential members of Epstein’s social circle in violation of the law’s requirements.

Justice Department officials have said that they did not withhold any information to protect powerful individuals, including Trump, and maintain they have now fully complied with the law.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two charges of soliciting prostitution, including one involving a minor. He was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019 and died in federal custody later that year. His death was ruled a suicide.

Judges and lawmakers say that over decades, Epstein abused, trafficked and molested scores of girls, many of whom have come forward in court and in other public forums.

Maxwell was convicted on sex-trafficking charges in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.