Lawmakers Say DOJ Hid Names of At Least Six Powerful Men in Epstein Files
After viewing unredacted communication in the Epstein files, Lawmakers Thomas Massie, Ro Khanna, and Jamie Raskin said there are at least six men whose identities have been concealed from the public without any clear legal justification.
Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and Khanna, a California Democrat, said they spent about two hours reviewing unredacted materials and found at least six men whose names and, in some cases, photographs appear in versions shown to Congress but are blacked out in the files released to the public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Massie and Khanna said the men appear to be “prominent” figures, and argued that nothing in the law they helped write allows redactions simply to spare powerful individuals from embarrassment or political fallout. The pair said they will first give Justice Department officials a chance to reverse the redactions, but Massie signaled he is prepared to read the six names into the Congressional Record.
The DOJ has argued that many redactions are legally required to protect victims.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, requires the Justice Department to release Epstein-related records with only narrow exceptions, such as protecting the identities of victims (which did not initially happen) or truly sensitive investigative details.
Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said the unredacted files indicate the department may have flouted the law by concealing the names of non‑victims while at the same time failing to adequately shield some victims’ identities. He described encountering numerous entirely unnecessary redactions and said it is “inconceivable” that an international child sex trafficking operation of Epstein’s scale could have been run by only Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
“We didn’t want to see any redactions of the names of co-conspirators, accomplices, enablers, abusers, rapists, simply to spare them potential embarrassment, political sensitivity or disgrace of some kind,” Raskin told reporters. “And yet nonetheless, the Epstein … documents that were released are filled with redactions of names and information about people who clearly are not victims and may fall into that other category.”
Raskin pointed to the handling of materials involving former L Brands CEO Les Wexner as one example of what he called improper redactions. He said he reviewed a document in which Wexner’s name was blacked out even though Wexner has been identified elsewhere as an Epstein client and is already scheduled to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee later this month.
Raskin also highlighted a redacted message from Epstein’s legal team that described discussions with lawyers for President Donald Trump during the 2009 Florida investigation. According to Raskin, the document summarized Trump as saying Epstein was a guest, not a member, at Mar‑a‑Lago and had not been asked to leave. Trump has said Epstein was “kicked out” of Mar-a-Lago.
The lawmakers indicated that some files the department previously removed from public release remain inaccessible even to members of Congress, and that millions of pages still have to be reviewed.
