Who’s Watching the Watchmen? Calls Grow for an IG Probe Into the DOJ’s Epstein File Delay

What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles.

Since the beginning of this epic screw up by the Department of Justice, and Pam Bondy

when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, I've been calling for a special prosecutor, and that's

because obviously we can't trust the DOJ to do the right thing, so they obviously need

some oversight, and now there seems to be a bit of a concerted effort to try and get

that oversight when it comes to the DOJ and the Epstein files.

But unfortunately what they're calling for isn't going to work, because anybody who

thinks that the inspector general is going to sort this out is crazy.

We've been through the OIG reports about Epstein's death and about the NPA, and all it was

was a gloss over of what went down, not one single person was held responsible, nobody

lost a pension, nobody went to prison, not even the guards who fell asleep.

So please spare me the nonsense and the BS calls for another internal investigation.

This needs to be external, and it needs to be conducted by people who are not scared

or intimidated by the Department of Justice or Donald Trump.

Remember the inspector general still at the end of the day has to answer to the Department

of Justice.

They can recommend charges, they can recommend another investigation or whatever, but that's

where it ends.

They don't have any teeth, they can't do anything that's worthwhile, so why waste time?

The real pathway to victory here is to go after a special counsel.

You got a special prosecutor, a special counsel, somebody that has subpoena power, somebody

that can charge people, that's the kind of power you need.

We don't need another watchdog group with some dumbass internal report that they're

going to massage to make the institution look better, because that's what they've been

doing from the very beginning.

How in the world can you look at that MPA and not know right away that the fix was in?

How is it that the inspector general after their gigantic investigation didn't recommend

that the MPA be done away with?

Why did they blame everything on institutional failure?

I'll tell you why, because that throws the wide net over everybody and gives everybody

plausible deniability.

Oh, it wasn't us, it was the system.

One look, there is no doubt that there were systemic failures within that jail and systemic

failures when it comes to the non prosecution agreement, no doubt about it.

But the OIG was supposed to rectify those problems was supposed to fix those problems.

And instead, what did we get?

Nothing but lip service.

So if anybody thinks that the OIG is going to step in here and really have some teeth

and really get things moving, I got some bad news for you.

Today's article is from CBS and The Headline, the late release of Epstein files triggers

calls for internal watchdog review.

This article was authored by Scott McFarlane.

Amid an indefinite wait for the full release of the case files on convicted sex offender

Jeffrey Epstein, some attention is shifting to a lesser known, if not invisible, group

of federal agents.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General.

The Inspector General's office serves as an internal watchdog for the Justice Department.

It staff operates an obscurity in a set of small federal offices, some in communities,

far from Washington, D.C., including Atlanta, Tucson, and Trenton.

Its agents and investigators monitor for fraud, abuse, and weaknesses inside the Justice

Department.

Well, they're doing a bang up job, huh?

There's nothing but fraud, coercion, and bullshit coming out of the DOJ.

You think that if the OIG actually was doing their job, some of these corrupt DOJ officials

would be getting perplocked, but that's not happening, is it?

And it's never going to happen.

And if anybody thinks that the OIG is going to step in and be the hero when it comes to

Epstein, I really got bad news for you.

We've been down this road before, and we're wasting time, and that of course plays directly

into their hands, and that certainly helps the cover up, right?

Oh, well, the OIG took a look, and they didn't find anything.

Oh, okay, great.

So we should just move on, right?

Like we should have moved on after the first OIG report, or the report into Jeffrey Epstein's

death, because that really closed a lot of doors, and that really slammed the door shut

on the investigation as a whole, and gave us all the answers we were looking for, right?

Right?

In a growing series of formal written requests, Epstein's survivors, some members of Congress,

and Washington-based watchdog groups, are asking the Inspector General's Office to investigate

if the Justice Department is mishandling its legal responsibility to release the Epstein

files.

And look, folks, another thing about the OIG, the investigations take forever.

We waited over three years for any movement on Jeffrey Epstein's death.

So what do you think the OIG is going to look at this, and have a report next week?

Yeah, I'll have a report for you, when Trump leaves office, and that's all part of the hustle.

The idea is to tire you out, and that's why I keep saying it over and over again, because

it's so relevant, and I want you to understand that the whole entire point is to make you

not care anymore, to be so overwhelmed, that you just throw up your hands and say, you

know what, we're never going to get to the bottom of this, and while it's certainly frustrating.

So keep in mind that this is one of the final tricks.

They have nothing left in the bag after this, right?

We all know what's coming, we all know that there's a lot of damaging information in

these files.

And none of their sleight of hand is going to work this time, the Trump administration,

and its Justice Department are under increasing scrutiny and pressure for their handling of

the Epstein files.

A federal law required the Department to release its records on Epstein by December 19,

but government lawyers told a judge this week that only 1% of the files have been reviewed

and released so far.

I mean, I don't want to beat this dead horse, but how in the fuck is that even acceptable

to anybody out there?

Oh, there's a lot of files.

Well, yeah, I got a lot of tax paperwork.

What if it takes me three years to turn that in?

How do you think that's going to work out for me?

Or if I have some kind of court case?

And I just say to the judge, you know what?

I need another 17 years for discovery.

How do you think that's going to work out?

It's not going to work.

You have to meet your deadlines.

And if you're not going to meet the deadline, you have to file a motion and ask for a waiver.

We didn't see that either, did we?

They just did whatever they wanted, like usual.

At me personally, I've had a belly full of that bullshit.

Either we're all dancing to the same tune, or I'm not dancing anymore.

The Justice Department released thousands of records on Epstein in several tranches last

month, but it says it needs more time to pour through millions of additional documents

and redact survivors' names and other sensitive information.

You know, they've had these documents since Jesus was young.

And they're out here crying and hollering and gnashing their teeth and ringing their

hands that they need more time.

Like how much more time do you need?

Can we get a timeframe?

Can we get an ETA?

They think this shit's a joke.

And they think that all of their other nonsense is going to turn attention away from this.

And it might, but not here.

Everybody else can talk about everything else.

We're going to talk about this topic and how the American people, the survivors, and

the world as a whole continue to have their faces spit in by the DOJ.

And I'll be damned if I'm distracted by any kind of shiny object.

The Inspector General's Office has a policy of not commenting on or confirming requests

for investigation.

CBS News has obtained several copies of requests for the probe.

In a formal request submitted Wednesday, ethics attorneys with the DC-based Democracy Defenders

Fund, as the Inspector General to determine if the Justice Department had violated the

law by redacting information improperly in the files, failing to justify its redactions,

or selectively releasing files for what appears to be partisan purposes.

The Democracy Defenders Fund is represented by Norm Eisen, a former Obama administration

ethics official who has been critical of Trump.

Maybe you should have been a little bit more critical of Obama when he was president too,

considering Epstein was abusing girls under Obama's watch.

Where was his Justice Department?

Keep in mind that this failure has been going on consistently since Clinton's first administration.

So there's plenty of blame to go around.

Congress has directed that the Department of Justice provide answers.

Instead, the Department has continued to deny, deflect, and delay, Eisen said while he's

not wrong about that.

That's exactly what they're doing.

And if Mr. Eisen can get some movement here and get the Inspector General involved great,

but I think that he is barking up the wrong tree and wasting time and resources.

Because again, the Inspector General is going to dance to the tune of the Department

of Justice, even if they say they don't.

And if you've been listening to this podcast for any amount of time, then you know how

I feel about internal reviews anyway.

Nobody's going to rat themselves out and nobody's hiring somebody to rat them out.

And the same goes for the OIG and the Department of Justice.

There is zero chance that the OIG is going to step in and give us anything meaningful

that's going to lead to people being held accountable.

Instead, my guess is they'll come in and they'll have another massage session, no pun intended,

and they'll try and defend the institutions.

Oh, it was systemic.

Oh, there were failures, but it was just a mistake.

Nobody did it on purpose.

These things happen.

Meanwhile, every single coincidence, every single break breaks in the favor and direction

of Jeffrey Epstein.

But sure, I guess everything's just a gigantic coincidence.

A group of Senate Democrats and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have also

asked for a review in a letter submitted Tuesday.

The group said a neutral assessment of its compliance with the statutory disclosure requirements

is essential.

One of the senators Michigan Democratic Senator Gary Peters told CBS News, we want to make

sure that all the documents are actually being presented, following the law is always

important to have checks on that.

Before the Department of Justice began releasing the files last month, a handful of Senate Democrats

also requested a review to determine whether any of the records had been tampered with

or concealed.

The Office of the Inspector General has a history of working on high-profile investigations

involving the Justice Department's handling of sex crime allegations.

In 2021, the office made headlines when it's review of the FBI's probe into convicted

sex offender Larry Nasser, a former US gymnastics doctor found that the Bureau learned Nasser

had been accused of molesting gymnasts in 2015, but fell to act, leaving him free to

continue to target victims for months.

Wait until they get a load of Epstein.

The Office has also waited into the Epstein issue, carrying out a 2023 investigation into

Epstein's 2019 death by suicide, allegedly, while in federal custody.

The probe found negligence, misconduct, and outright job performance failures by federal

Bureau prison staff.

Yeah, how'd that work out?

Who went to prison?

Who went to jail?

Who ended up suffering any kind of ramifications for their behavior?

Oh, that's right, nobody.

Like usual.

A 2025 semi-annual report by the Inspector General said the office received more than 8,000

tips and allegations in a six-month span in late 2024.

Approximately, 100 of those allegations led the formal investigations by the office.

A spokesperson declined the comment to CBS News about the letter submitted seeking new

investigations about the Epstein files.

In a series of interviews with CBS News, attorneys for survivors of Epstein's sex offenses

have said that they have also sought or supported an Inspector General review of how the Justice

Department is handling its responsibilities to manage the files.

The partial initial release of Epstein case files last month revealed that an early 1996

tip to the FBI by Epstein's Reviver Maria Farmer was not sufficiently pursued.

Jennifer Freeman, an attorney who represents Farmer, told CBS News the Inspector General's

Office should look into how this significant failure took place.

But we know how it took place.

They ignored it because Epstein was one of their assets.

Pretty simple, man.

We don't have to reinvent the wheel here.

She said that the office should examine whether all Epstein-related files have been produced

and are properly redacted, making sure victim identifying information is not disclosed.

And those federal employees who fell to address Maria's 96 report are held accountable.

Well, I'm sure they're all retired at this point, so what are you going to do to take

their pensions?

The problem is, when the can gets kicked down the road, it's hard to enforce anything

that's already happened.

Statue of limitations, a whole bunch of things.

Florida-based civil attorney Spencer Kuvin, who represents Epstein's survivors, told CBS News

victims of Epstein's offenses, want full transparency, and an opportunity to talk with the federal

government about what they want, and do not want released.

As for what is released, true transparency would allow independent review of redaction

decisions, so the public can be confident nothing is being hidden unnecessarily, Kuvin

said.

Without third-party review, the public will never be able to have certainty that the government's

being honest and complying with the letter of the law.

Well, the inspector general is not going to do it.

We need a special prosecutor, somebody that actually has some power to send people to

prison.

Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CBS News,

so what do you folks think?

Do you think that the OIG is going to initiate an investigation, and if they do, will anyone

be held accountable?

Well, I have my doubts, but I'd certainly love to be wrong, but unfortunately history has

shown us, especially when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, that for the vast majority, these

internal reviews are worthless, so will this time be any different?

I hope, but I certainly have my doubts.

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