The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General says it will audit the department’s compliance with a law mandating the public release of the Epstein files.
The audit, initiated by the acting official running the office, comes amid complaints on both sides of the aisle that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has failed to fully release the files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and improperly concealed the identities of some named in the files.
“The DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is initiating an audit of DOJ’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Our preliminary objective is to evaluate the DOJ’s processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act,” it said.
The OIG will look at how the DOJ set guidelines for sifting through the 6 million files, the directives it gave staffers over what could be held back or redacted and how the DOJ addressed “post-release publication concerns,” including revealing the names of victims who were slated to be redacted under the law.
The highest levels of the federal government are paying attention to a list of people who have gone missing or died, citing concerns about their connections to scientific research, some of it potentially classified.
Prominent Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was killed on Wednesday in what appeared to be a targeted attack by the Israeli military in the town of Tyre in southern Lebanon. Her employer, Al-Akhbar, confirmed the death of their correspondent Wednesday evening.
The annual March of Return, which typically draws tens of thousands of Palestinians inside Israel, was transformed this year into a series of smaller marches across depopulated Palestinian villages.
A Russian overnight attack on Dnipro hit a multi-story residential building and injured seven people, including two children, regional authorities said early Wednesday.
Wildfires burning across the south-eastern US intensified on Wednesday across parts of south-east Georgia, where 50 homes were destroyed, and across north-east Florida, forcing evacuations and school closures in some communities.
The American Library Association (ALA) has reported a record high in the number of books banned in US libraries.
A day after Virginia voters passed a redistricting referendum expected to net Democrats more House seats, a Republican-appointed judge blocked its implementation.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is holding up hundreds of Coast Guard promotions over an issue with Eastern Shipbuilding Group, a Florida shipbuilder.
