The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General says it will audit the department’s compliance with a law mandating the public release of the Epstein files.
The audit, initiated by the acting official running the office, comes amid complaints on both sides of the aisle that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has failed to fully release the files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and improperly concealed the identities of some named in the files.
“The DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is initiating an audit of DOJ’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Our preliminary objective is to evaluate the DOJ’s processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act,” it said.
The OIG will look at how the DOJ set guidelines for sifting through the 6 million files, the directives it gave staffers over what could be held back or redacted and how the DOJ addressed “post-release publication concerns,” including revealing the names of victims who were slated to be redacted under the law.