Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are challenging the Justice Department for redacting the names of six men in the publicly released materials related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — and they could take matters into their own hands to reveal their identities.
These omissions, the two lawmakers argued Monday evening outside the Justice Department, could go beyond the scope of redactions that are permitted under the legislation they championed — and which President Donald Trump signed into law in November — to compel the full release of Epstein files within DOJ’s possession.
And while they declined to share the names with reporters Monday, Massie, a Kentucky Republican, didn’t rule out taking steps to do so in the coming days. He told reporters he should “probably” broadcast the identity of the shielded individuals “from the floor or in a committee hearing,” where his remarks would be protected from lawsuits through the Speech and Debate Clause.
“What we’re after is the men who Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women to,” said Massie, adding he would give DOJ officials the opportunity to “correct their mistakes” and reverse the redactions on their own before reading the names of the six men on the chamber floor or from a committee dais.
Massie said at least one of the men was a U.S. citizen, another was a foreigner and the nationalities of others were unclear. He suggested authorities were investigating at least one of them.
“There are six men, some of them with their photographs, that have been redacted, and there’s no explanation why those people were redacted,” Khanna, a California Democrat, told reporters. “That’s really concerning.”
Khanna and Massie were at a DOJ office building Monday to peruse the unredacted Epstein files, a privilege being afforded to members of Congress following the files’ public release. The lawmakers scrutinized the unscrubbed materials on closely held computers — though Massie complained he was unable to view some documents that have since been taken down from the Justice Department website after being posted publicly.
Khanna suggested that some materials may have been redacted before the Justice Department review — potentially by the FBI — complicating the process for complete transparency.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, also viewed the unredacted materials earlier in the day Monday. He said there were about four computers for lawmakers’ use and viewers can only take written notes on what they see.
“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.”
He pointed to the redaction of Les Wexner’s identity as an example. Wexner, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret, was an Epstein client and has a deposition scheduled before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee later this month.
Raskin also said he saw one redacted document, a message from Epstein’s legal team regarding Trump. He recalled the note mentioned that Trump had identified Epstein as a guest, but not a member, of Mar-a-Lago.
“That was redacted for some indeterminate, inscrutable reason,” he said.
