Senators call for investigation into release, redaction of Epstein files
Newly released documents from disgraced late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including a bundle of fully redacted pages, appear in memorandums released by the Justice Department and are being printed by Reuters in Washington on December 19, 2025, and are set for a photo shoot.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate the Justice Department’s release of documents and arrangements related to disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The letter, signed by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, alleges that the Justice Department failed to comply with a law intended to mandate the release of the Epstein files while protecting victims.
“Contrary to Congress’s express mandate to protect victims, these records contained email addresses and nude photographs from which public and non-public victims’ names and faces could be identified,” the lawmakers wrote. “But when it comes to information identifying powerful businessmen and political figures who are alleged collaborators or material witnesses, the Department of Justice appears to have largely redacted those records.”
GAO is an independent, nonpartisan legislative body with the authority to audit and investigate the federal government.
The Justice Department has been repeatedly criticized for hiding parts of the Epstein files from the public, in violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump signed in November after months of opposition. This law required the release of all documents by December 19.
Although the Justice Department has released millions of documents to date, the December deadline has passed and many more Epstein file entries have yet to be made public; This sparked a backlash from both Republican and Democratic members of Congress.
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have called on the Justice Department Inspector General to investigate how the department handled the Epstein files. The House Oversight Committee voted last week to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi as part of the investigation into Epstein, who died in 2019.
The letter asks Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown to review the “protocols and practices” used by the Justice Department to review, organize and release the Epstein files and submit a report to Congress. It specifically asks GAO to investigate “whether the release of the files served to cover up child sexual abuse.”
“This horrific scandal is one in which powerful, wealthy men groom, abuse and rape young women, men and children,” the senators wrote. “It is critical to understand what led to the DOJ’s failure to redact victims’ information and revictimize them, while violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act in redacting information about alleged abusers,” the senators wrote.
