US Justice Department inspector announces audit of Epstein files – JURIST

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that it will audit the DOJ’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA).

According to the announcement, the OIG audit will examine DOJ’s “processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act,” including processes for redacting and withholding records.

The EFTA required the DOJ to release all its files related to billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by December 19, 2025. So far, the agency has only released about 3.5 million of roughly 6 million pages. Much of what has been released is heavily redacted.

Some members of Congress have criticized the DOJ’s failure to comply with the EFTA. In February, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin (D) accused the agency of making “mysterious redactions” to documents. After reviewing un-redacted files at a government facility, Raskin added that, “I was able to determine, at least I believe, that there were tons of completely unnecessary redactions, in addition to the failure to redact the names of victims, and so that was troubling to us.”

California Rep. Ro Khanna (D), a co-author of the EFTA, posted in a video on X that the Act requires DOJ “to explain redactions” but it has not given “a single explanation.”

After a March 18 briefing on the files by DOJ officials, Democratic lawmakers said they would push to enforce a subpoena for then-US Attorney General Pam Bondi to appear for a sworn deposition. Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost (D) said, “We want her under oath because we do not trust her.” President Donald Trump fired Bondi on April 2.

“Men need to be perp-walked in handcuffs to the jail and until we see that here in this country…we don’t have a system of justice that’s working,” said Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie (R), another co-sponsor of the EFTA, in March.

However, Washington leadership is not united in clearing the air around the files. Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche in a recent Fox News interview said, “I think that to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it should not be a part of anything going forward.”

OIG also investigated Epstein’s death while in custody at the Federal Bureau of Prison’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City in August 2019. The report faulted correctional staff but did not dispute that Epstein’s death was not the result of a criminal act.