A protester holds up a photo of the future President Donald Trump with financier Jeffrey Epstein at a rally in Augusta, Georgia, on Aug. 2, 2025. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting a federal sex trafficking trial.

WASHINGTON – Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to review whether any records from the investigation of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein had been “tampered” with or concealed.

The request came as the department faces a Dec. 19 deadline for releasing Epstein records under a law Congress passed.

Three federal judges have approved department requests to release grand-jury transcripts and other evidence from the investigation of Epstein and his aide, Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for conspiring with Epstein to entice minors to travel for illicit sex.

The letter requested a “prompt audit” of who handled records the department is releasing, including the storage and disposition of the evidence.

“This audit will help confirm for Congress and the public that the Epstein files that will be released are identical to those collected by law enforcement, other than any legally required redactions,” said the letter signed by Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Adam Schiff of California. “To reassure the American public that any files released have not been tampered with or concealed, the chain of custody forms associated with records and evidence in the Epstein files must be accounted for, analyzed, and released.”

“The purpose of chain of custody documentation is to show in detail who had control of evidence so that questions concerning contamination, tampering, or concealment do not arise,” the letter added.

Senate Democrats have voiced concerns about Trump administration officials demanding the release of Epstein documents before taking office and then saying in July that nothing more could be released.

“Despite tens of thousands of personnel hours reviewing and re-reviewing these Epstein-related records over the course of two weeks in March, it took DOJ more than three additional months to officially find there is ‘no incriminating ‘client list,’’ Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in July.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has said she would follow the law in releasing Epstein documents.

“The Trump administration keeps threatening to interfere with the full release of the Epstein Files,” Schiff said on social media. “To ensure there is no tampering with the files ahead of their legally-required release, we need an independent audit of who at the Justice Department had access. And when.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats push for DOJ watchdog to review handling of Epstein records

Reporting by Bart Jansen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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