DOJ inspector general probing agency compliance with Epstein files transparency law

WASHINGTON (CN) — The Department of Justice's independent inspector general said Thursday it would initiate a review of how the agency collected, redacted and published files on the late Jeffrey Epstein and whether its processes complied with federal law requiring their release.

It's a move that comes as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have amped pressure on the Justice Department over its delayed release of millions of Epstein documents, as well as redaction issues in the public files which exposed names and images of some of the convicted sex offender's victims.

In a brief statement, the agency's inspector general William Blier said his office would evaluate the Justice Department's processes for "identifying, redacting and releasing records in its possession" as required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump late last year.

The review will include a survey of the agency's collection of "responsive material" as well as its guidance to staff for redacting personal identifying information of certain people mentioned in the Epstein files. The audit will also address the Justice Department's approach to addressing "post-release publication concerns," the independent watchdog said.

The inspector general may also investigate other issues during its audit "if circumstances warrant," said Blier.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The agency's handling of the Epstein files and its compliance with federal law requiring their release has been a major source of contention for members of Congress in recent months. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers grilled then-Attorney General Pam Bondi on the issue during a combative hearing in February.

"As attorney general, you sided with perpetrators and you're ignoring the victims," Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin told Bondi at the time. "That will be your legacy, unless you act quickly to change course."

The top Judiciary Committee Democrat did not immediately return a request for comment. And a spokesperson for Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, the panel's Republican chairman, did not return a request for comment.

Bondi in March was the subject of a House Oversight Committee subpoena compelling her to appear for a closed-door deposition with lawmakers on the Epstein files, initially scheduled to take place last week. But after she was fired by Trump earlier this month, the Justice Department told the panel's Republican leadership that the ousted attorney general was no longer legally bound to appear.

Oversight Committee Democrats have threatened to hold Bondi in contempt of Congress if she does not sit for a deposition. Kentucky Representative James Comer, the committee chair, has said he's coordinating with the former attorney general's personal legal team to reschedule, but it's unclear when a new date will be set.

Spokespeople for the Oversight Committee's Republican and Democratic members did not immediately return requests for comment.

The Justice Department's inspector general, meanwhile, did not say how long the Epstein files audit was expected to take. But Blier said that his office would issue a public report on its findings once the review was complete.

Congress has already implored the independent watchdog to look into Justice Department handling of Epstein documents. Raskin in March demanded the inspector general open a probe into Bondi after images from her Judiciary Committee testimony showed the then-attorney general consulting the search history of Democratic lawmakers who traveled to the Justice Department to review the unredacted files.

The top Democrat at the time called Bondi's use of the so-called "burn book" an "outrageous abuse of power" and argued the agency had spied on members of Congress by collecting the Epstein information they reviewed.

Lawmakers also used the episode as a springboard to call on the Justice Department to rework its process for accessing the unredacted Epstein files, arguing that members of Congress should not be forced to travel away from Capitol Hill and use "clunky" agency software to inspect the documents.

Trump administration officials, including Bondi, had long said they would take steps to publish documents on the Justice Department's investigation into Epstein, the late financier and convicted pedophile who had connections to powerful and influential figures all over the world. But the former attorney general backtracked, saying her agency would not publish any more Epstein files and denying the existence of his much-vaunted "client list" of associates. At her March hearing, Bondi claimed Democrats had seized on the Epstein files to "distract" from the Trump administration's success.