A Justice Department watchdog office announced Thursday it will audit the department’s compliance with a bipartisan law that ordered the release of records on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

For months, lawmakers and survivors of Epstein’s abuse have slammed the Justice Department’s messy handling of the files and its compliance with the law, pointing to the disclosure of victim information and the department’s decision to withhold swathes of records.

The critics argue the department has been in open violation of the statute, which lawmakers passed last year to shed light on Epstein’s network and any figures connected to the sexual exploitation of girls.

William M. Blier, who currently leads the department’s Office of the Inspector General, said the audit will review DOJ identification and production of the material, the processes for redacting and withholding material under the Epstein statute and the processes for “addressing post-release publication concerns.”

“Our preliminary objective is to evaluate the DOJ’s processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act,” Blier said in a statement.

Congress passed the law last year — an effort the White House lobbied against, though President Donald Trump ultimately signed the law — and Democrats have since accused the administration of engaging in a cover-up over its handling of the documents.

The law required the Justice Department to publish — in a searchable format — all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials related to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell within 30 days of enactment.

The department has released a trove of documents, but critics have slammed the breadth of the materials the department has decided to withhold from public view.

Within the released documents, Epstein survivors say the department overly redacted information that could identify people who may have been co-conspirators or enablers of his abuse, while committing egregious errors in failing to fully redact the names and identifying information of victims.

With the announcement, the inspector general’s office now wades into one of the most high-profile controversies this Congress, one that presents sensitive political calculations for Trump over his past ties to Epstein.

The announcement from the OIG also comes amid criticism that the watchdog office has gone lax on oversight in regard to misconduct accusations related to Trump’s Justice Department.