The Department of Justice (DOJ) this week unredacted multiple names in files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after pressure from lawmakers.
A top DOJ official announced the action after Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Monday decried multiple redactions from the millions of documents released by the administration.
After reviewing unredacted files with other members of Congress, the pair of House members said they spotted at least six names of people who are “likely incriminated.” The two lawmakers co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the DOJ to release all documents related to the disgraced financier in its possession.
Massie specifically referenced three documents on the social platform X that featured heavy redactions: an unclassified list of 20 individuals that initially only displayed the names of Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell; email correspondence in 2009 between Epstein and a man Massie said appears to be a sultan; and an FBI memo of possible co-conspirators of Epstein compiled days after he died by suicide in 2019.
After Massie’s criticism, the DOJ then unredacted the names of 16 additional people on the 20-person list. Two names remain redacted, and photos of all individuals other than Epstein and Maxwell also remain redacted.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote on X on Monday night that the DOJ unredacted “all non-victim names” from the document, adding, “The DOJ is committed to transparency.”
The 2009 correspondence between Epstein and another individual features the convicted sex offender writing “where are you? are you ok , I loved the torture video.” The recipient replies, “I am in china I will be in the US 2nd week of may.”
Blanche accused Massie of “grandstanding” with regards to the correspondence, adding, “you know that the Sultan’s name is available unredacted in the files” and pointing to other released correspondence between Epstein and the man.
The deputy attorney general also wrote on X that the Epstein Files Transparency Act “requires redactions for personally identifiable information, including if in an email address.” The law states that Attorney General Pam Bondi may redact personal information of victims or their personal and medical files.
“The document you cite has numerous victim names,” Blanche wrote on X in response to the Kentucky Republican flagging the heavily redacted version of the document.
“We have just unredacted Les Wexner’s name from this document, but his name already appears in the files thousands of times. DOJ is hiding nothing,” Blanche added, referring to the billionaire retail tycoon.
A lawyer for Wexner previously told The New York Times that he was not a target of a federal investigation or viewed as a co-conspirator.
The Hill is attempting to reach out to some of the others named in the documents.
Despite Blanche’s claims, Epstein survivor Sharlene Rochard slammed the DOJ early Tuesday.
“The reveal of these files has been absolutely atrocious,” Rochard told host Audie Cornish on “CNN This Morning.” Rochard specifically criticized the DOJ for not redacting certain victims’ names and “redacting predators.”
“That was not what was stated in this law,” she added. “They are clearly going against the law.”
