U.S. Justice Department’s watchdog is reviewing compliance with the law mandating Epstein files release

This March 28, 2017, photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein. (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP, File)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice’s internal watchdog announced a review Thursday of the department’s compliance with the law mandating the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, stepping into a politically sensitive saga that has shadowed the Trump administration for the past year.

The review from the inspector general’s office will focus on how the department collected, reviewed and redacted materials in preparation for their release, as well as its process for addressing concerns that arose after the files were made public, when Epstein survivors complained that personal information about them had been disclosed.

The audit will revisit the department’s staggered and uneven release of millions of records from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation, a process that exposed it to accusations that it was attempting to protect U.S. President Donald Trump, who decades ago was friendly with the financier. It marks the first significant effort, since Trump took office for a second time, by the watchdog to scrutinize the actions of a department that has been riven by tumult, including mass firings of employees and allegations of politicization of investigations.

The records were released starting late last year in compliance with a bill passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump, who bowed to political pressure from his own party after initially resisting efforts to disclose additional files. That law required the release within 30 days of records related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in a jail in 2019, and also allowed for redactions of information about survivors.

But problems with the department’s process soon emerged.

Officials released only a fraction of records within the 30-day deadline, later disclosing they would need several more weeks because of the abrupt discovery of a massive group of records tied to the case.

In late January, the department released what it said were 3 million records, but subsequently withdrew several thousand documents after lawyers told a judge that the lives of nearly 100 abuse survivors had been “turned upside down” by careless redactions. The exposed materials include nude photos, with faces visible, as well as names, email addresses and other identifying information that was either unredacted or not fully obscured.

The department blamed it on “technical or human error.”

In March, the department released additional files involving uncorroborated accusations made by a woman against the Republican president that it said had been mistakenly withheld during an earlier review.

Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

Eric Tucker, The Associated Press