TLDR:
- Four senators — three Democrats and one Republican — are demanding a federal audit of how the DOJ handled Epstein case file redactions.
- Victims’ nude photos and personal information were exposed while alleged powerful co-conspirators’ names were blacked out.
- Senators say DOJ also quietly removed documents tied to allegations against President Trump with no explanation.
- The lawmakers are asking the Government Accountability Office to investigate whether the releases amounted to a cover-up of child sexual abuse.
Four U.S. senators are demanding a federal watchdog investigate whether the Justice Department broke the law when it released — and redacted — millions of pages of Jeffrey Epstein files, accusing the agency of shielding powerful figures while exposing victims’ most private information.
In a letter to the Government Accountability Office, the bipartisan group — Democrats Jeffrey Merkley of Oregon, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Richard Durbin of Illinois, and Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — said DOJ appeared to have “heavily redacted” records identifying alleged co-conspirators and material witnesses while releasing victims’ nude photos and email addresses.
Federal law specifically bars DOJ from redacting records “on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”
The senators also flagged the removal of documents “that relate to allegations against President Trump and others, with no apparent explanation.”
They asked GAO to determine who ordered the redactions, which political appointees signed off, and whether the releases served to “cover up child sexual abuse.”
Read more:
• Senators ask watchdog agency to audit DOJ protocols for unlawful Epstein file redactions
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