A dozen members of the US Senate, mostly Democrats, are calling on the Inspector General to examine the justice department’s failure to release all records pertaining to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by last Friday’s congressionally mandated deadline.
The group of senators, including Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski from the US President Donald Trump's Republican Party, said that the victims in the Epstein case “deserve full disclosure” and the “peace of mind” of an independent audit.
Murkowski joined 11 Democrats in signing a letter on Wednesday urging Acting Inspector General Don Berthiaume to audit the Justice Department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law enacted last month that requires the government to open its files on Epstein and his longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell, the Associated Press reported.
“Given the (Trump) Administration’s historic hostility to releasing the files, politicisation of the Epstein case more broadly, and failure to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a neutral assessment of its compliance with the statutory disclosure requirements is essential,” the senators wrote.
Full transparency “is essential in identifying members of our society who enabled and participated in Epstein’s crimes,” the letter added
{{/usCountry}}Full transparency “is essential in identifying members of our society who enabled and participated in Epstein’s crimes,” the letter added
{{/usCountry}}Murkowski and Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut and Jeff Merkley from Oregon led the letter-writing group. Others included Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Adam Schiff of California, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Cory Booker, Andy Kim of New Jersey, Gary Peters of Michigan, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
What did the justice department say on the Epstein files release delay
The Justice Department has announced its intention to release records on a rolling basis, despite the congressional deadline. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information.
More batches of records were posted over the weekend and on Tuesday. The department has not provided any notice regarding when additional records might arrive.
“The reason why we are still reviewing documents and still continuing our process is simply that to protect victims. So the same individuals that are out there complaining about the lack of documents that were produced on Friday are the same individuals who apparently don’t want us to protect victims, ” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press" on Sunday.
Records that have been released, including photographs, interview transcripts, call logs, court records, and other documents, were either already public or heavily redacted, and many lacked necessary context.
Records that hadn't been seen before include transcripts of grand jury testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein.
Other records made public in recent days include a note from a federal prosecutor from January 2020 stating that Trump had flown on the financier’s private plane more often than had been previously known, as well as emails between Maxwell and someone who signs off with the initial “A."
They contain other references that suggest the writer was Britain’s former Prince Andrew. In one, “A” writes: “How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?”