Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) said on Monday that the Department of Justice redacted the names of six men “likely incriminated” in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, despite pledging to make all of the Epstein files public.
The duo ventured to the DOJ to review the un-redacted Epstein files made available to lawmakers in their entirety for the first time this week.
“What I saw that bothered me were the names of at least six men that had been redacted that are likely incriminated by their inclusion in these files,” said Massie. “It took some digging to find them.”
Khanna said that six individuals, “some of them with their photographs,” were redacted, and there was “no explanation” for it.
Massie said at least one of the individuals was an American citizen, while another “is pretty high up in a foreign government.”
Khanna and Massie said they would give the DOJ time to fix the redactions, or they would consider reading the names on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives using the speech and debate clause.
“I think we need to give the DOJ a chance to go back through and correct their mistakes,” Massie said at a press conference after sorting through semi-unredacted files.
The speech and debate clause, under Article 1, Section 6, of the Constitution, gives these members immunity from liability for defamation when reading the list of names aloud in court.
Attorney General Pam Bondi is set to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, where she will face questions on the release of the Epstein files and the redactions made.
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“A lot is riding on Attorney General Bondi’s appearance before us on the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday,” ranking member Jamie Raskin told reporters after sorting through the files Monday morning.
The sorting of documents came as Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination while testifying virtually before the House Oversight Committee.