type: timeline_event
On March 11, 2026, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators -- Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) -- sent a formal letter to Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown of the U.S. Government Accountability Office requesting an audit of the Department of Justice's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The senators raised specific concerns about a double standard in the DOJ's redaction practices: while the files released by the DOJ included personally identifying information about victims -- including email addresses and nude photographs through which publicly identified and non-public victims could be recognized -- information identifying powerful political and business figures alleged to be coconspirators or material witnesses was heavily redacted.
The letter asked the GAO to review the "protocols and practices" used by the DOJ for the review, redaction, and release of the Epstein files, and to report back to Congress. The GAO confirmed receipt of the request and said it was under review.
The senators' letter followed a bipartisan House Oversight Committee vote on March 4 to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi directly. Both actions reflected growing, cross-party concern that the DOJ had selectively managed the Epstein file release in a manner that protected powerful individuals -- including the president -- while exposing victims. The episode represented a significant test of whether Congress could impose accountability on an executive branch controlled by a subject of the underlying investigation.