Lawmakers say Epstein files implicate 6 more men

Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) discuss Jeffrey Epstein files

(Image credit: Nathan Howard / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

What happened

Lawmakers who viewed the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files at the Justice Department Monday said the Trump department blacked out the names of several people who should have been identified under the Epstein Transparency Act. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a driving force behind the law, said he and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) had so far uncovered “at least six men that have been redacted that are likely incriminated by their inclusion in these files.”

Who said what

“It wasn’t just Epstein” and Ghislaine Maxwell involved in sexually abusing underage girls, said Khanna. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, agreed. “There’s no way you run a billion-dollar international child sex trafficking ring with just two people committing crimes,” he said. The Justice Department “has been in a cover-up mode for many months and has been trying to sweep the entire thing under the rug.”

Members of Congress can make appointments to view the unredacted Epstein files through Friday, with no aides or phones present. A few hours doing so Monday revealed “lots of people” who “were redacted for mysterious or baffling or inscrutable reasons,” Raskin told reporters, per The Guardian. Meanwhile, the DOJ’s failure to shield the survivors is “either spectacular incompetence and sloppiness” or a “deliberate threat to other survivors who are thinking about coming forward.”

What next?

Lawmakers did not name new names, but Massie told reporters that one of the six men was “pretty high up in a foreign government” and Khanna said another was a “pretty prominent individual.” Massie said he would “give the DOJ a chance to say they made a mistake” and “let them un-redact those men’s names,” but if they did not, he might name all six in a speech on the House floor, where speakers are protected from criminal or civil liability.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.