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

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice’s internal watchdog said Thursday that it is reviewing the department’s compliance with the law mandating the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The inspector general’s review office will focus on how the department collected, reviewed and redacted materials in preparation for release and its process for addressing privacy concerns that arose after the files were made public.

The audit will focus on one of the more politically sensitive chapters of the Trump administration’s Justice Department, when officials bowed to public pressure and to a law from Congress to release millions of pages of records that the executive branch had initially said would not be disclosed.