Two senior US lawmakers have said that at least six names remain redacted in recently released Justice Department files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, despite indications that the individuals may be implicated in criminal wrongdoing.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California made the remarks on Monday after reviewing Epstein-related files at the Justice Department, following legislation they helped pass requiring the documents’ release.
Massie said the lawmakers had identified "at least six men that have been redacted that are likely incriminated by their inclusion in these files."
"We went in there for two hours. There’s millions of files," Massie told reporters.
"In a couple of hours, we found six men whose names have been redacted who are implicated in the way that the files are presented."
The lawmakers declined to identify the individuals, but said one appeared to be a senior official in a foreign government, while others were prominent figures.
They stressed that the law allowing the release of the files permits only narrow redactions, such as to protect survivors or classified information.
"None of this is designed to be a witch hunt," Khanna said.
"Just because someone may be in the files doesn’t mean that they’re guilty. But there are very powerful people who raped these underage girls. It wasn’t just Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell."
Massie said he would not release names independently, instead calling on the Justice Department to review the redactions.
"They need to themselves check their own homework," he said.
Congressional access
Monday marked the first time members of Congress were permitted to view the unredacted Epstein files in person at a Justice Department facility in Washington.
According to reporting by the Daily Mail, lawmakers who reviewed the material said the files referenced previously undisclosed victims, including one as young as nine years old, and included redactions tied to a "pretty high up" foreign government official.
Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, who also reviewed the documents, was quoted by the newspaper as saying: "You read about 15-year-old girls, 14-year-old girls, 10-year-old girls. I saw a mention of a 9-year-old girl today."
Khanna said some materials had already been redacted before reaching Justice Department lawyers, including FBI interview records and grand jury documents that the law requires to be produced without redactions.
Both lawmakers said they would continue pressing for transparency, emphasising that accountability remained their focus.
Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.
