The Daily Fuckup

The Justice Department’s inspector general opened an audit on April 23, 2026, into how the department carried out the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The review is aimed at the mechanics of the release: how DOJ identified and collected responsive material, how it decided what to redact or withhold, and how it handled complaints raised after publication.

The watchdog described the work as an audit and said it will issue a public report when finished. Its posted scope does not promise a criminal probe or a fresh fact-finding mission beyond the release process itself. It is a process review, centered on whether the department followed its own procedures and the statute’s limits when it put documents out.

That statute requires DOJ to publish unclassified Epstein-related records in searchable and downloadable form. It also lets the department withhold victim personal information and material that would jeopardize an active federal investigation. Congress passed the measure in 2025 and it became Public Law No. 119-38.

DOJ said on January 30 that it had published more than 3 million additional responsive pages, along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The department said those materials brought the total disclosed under the law to nearly 3.5 million pages. The new audit does not change that tally, but it does put the release process itself under formal review.