Democratic lawmakers and a group of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have reportedly called for a pre-emptive review of forthcoming Justice Department documents to ensure case files on the pedophile’s crimes have not been “tampered” with.
Sens. Adam Schiff and Dick Durbin asked Acting Inspector General Don Berthiaume to review any potential issues in the “chain of custody” relating to the scheduled release of documents next week, CBS News reports.
“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,” as they put it.
Separately, representatives for a group of Epstein’s survivors told CBS News they have also requested a “third-party review” to make sure nothing has been “scrubbed, softened, or quietly removed before the public sees it.”
Under intense political and public pressure, President Donald Trump signed a new federal law last month mandating the release of all government files held on the disgraced financier by Dec. 19.
Trump has faced a firestorm of scrutiny over his own historic relationship with the convicted sex trafficker.
On the campaign trail, Trump promoted a conspiracy theory relating to Epstein’s death, but in office, he has been reluctant to follow through on releasing the files.
The Durbin-Schiff letter also refers to reports that, under Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, staff have undertaken a massive review of documents related to the Epstein case to identify any mention of Trump in the files.
“In the context of the Epstein files, political interference in the review and release of the files, and public reporting about the large number of individuals who already participated in redacting the files, additional information is required to satisfy public confidence in DOJ’s handling of this matter,” Schiff and Durbin wrote to Berthiaume.
“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,” they added.
For Spencer Kurvin, an attorney representing a number of the late financier’s victims, the concerns are far from unfounded. “These records have passed through too many hands, behind too many closed doors, for anyone to simply assume they’re intact, unaltered, or complete,” he told CBS News.
“Survivors have endured decades of secrecy, broken promises, and institutional protection of powerful men,” Kurvin added. “They should not now be asked to trust a process with no independent verification.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment on this story.
