The Justice Department's internal watchdog announced Thursday it is auditing whether the DOJ has properly complied with a federal law requiring the release of government files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Deputy Inspector General William Blier said the office's "preliminary objective is to evaluate the DOJ's processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act." He added that the OIG will issue a public report when the work is complete and may expand its scope if circumstances warrant.
The audit follows sustained pressure from victims' advocates and lawmakers who say the DOJ has withheld a significant portion of its files on Epstein and his convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, in violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Congress passed that law in November, several months after then-Attorney General Pam Bondi publicly promised to release the DOJ's investigatory file on Epstein — and then declined to do so.
Bondi was fired by President Trump on April 2. Reports at the time indicated Trump was dissatisfied with how she handled the Epstein file disclosures.
Attorney Brittany Henderson, who represents more than 100 Epstein victims alongside her partner Brad Edwards, said the audit "will bring a long-awaited sense of temporary relief to many victims." She added, "We can only hope this audit is conducted in a meaningful way — one that leads to real accountability and, ultimately, reparations for the victims who were re-victimized and harmed by these failures."
Attorney Arick Fudali, who represents a group of 10 Epstein survivors, struck a more skeptical note. "With the hopes that this is not just another partisan performance for this administration to pretend they care about Epstein's survivors, I look forward to reviewing what the audit recovers," he said.
Epstein, a former friend of Trump, died by suicide in a federal jail in New York City in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on child sex trafficking charges. The circumstances of his death and the full scope of his associations have remained subjects of intense public and legal scrutiny. The audit has no announced timeline for completion.
