(The Center Square) – Citing a 2008 case involving the late Jeffrey Epstein, a North Carolina congresswoman is pushing for an independent authority capable of investigating misconduct accusations of the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General.
“The DOJ IG is the only inspector general with such a jurisdictional limitation,” says a release from U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, D-N.C. “A prominent example of attorney misconduct that was inadequately investigated is the 2008 case in which U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, who later became secretary of Labor during the first Trump administration, was cleared of wrongdoing after granting Jeffrey Epstein a controversial nonprosecution agreement.”
Ross authored the IG Access Act and filed it Tuesday in the House of Representatives alongside Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif. Epstein is a sizzling talking point around Capitol Hill, with accusations aplenty, vows of transparency questioned, and theories infinite on both major parties’ intentions past and present.
Epstein, wealthy financier with a “who’s who” network of connections, died in 2019 in a New York City prison awaiting a sex trafficking trial. Documents remain sealed; suspicions are not regarding who did what with him.
“Ensuring accountability at the DOJ is vital to a fair legal system,” Ross said. “The IG Access Act is commonsense legislation that will close an unnecessary loophole that can allow attorney misconduct to go unaddressed. While we have a president intent on manipulating the justice system to fit his will, transparency in our justice system is essential.”
Lawfare and weaponization by the Department of Justice cuts into both sides of the political aisle. As he campaigned for a second term, President Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden’s administration targeting him. He also said he could do the same to his enemies, and Attorney General Pam Bondi led creation of the Weaponization Working Group to review past probes and prosecutions.
“Right now,” Garcia said, “independent watchdogs don’t have the power to investigate DOJ lawyers, allowing gross misconduct and abuses of power to undermine our basic rule of law.”
How far the bill can get is questionable. Majorities are 218-212 Republicans with five vacancies in the House, and 53-45 Republicans with two independents caucusing with Democrats in the Senate. And a Republican is in the White House.
Ross introduced similar legislation in 2021, and it was included within the Inspector General Independence and Empowerment Act that passed the House 221-182 with three Republicans supporting it and no Democrats against. It never got a floor vote in the Senate. Democrats held a trifecta in the Senate, House and White House during the 117th Congress.
