Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) read the names of six men redacted from the Department of Justice’s publicly released Epstein files, telling the House floor that the names were “[hidden] for no apparent reason.”
Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the original sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, visited the DOJ on Monday to view the unredacted version of the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Khanna said in a speech before the House floor on Tuesday that “there were six wealthy, powerful men that the DOJ hid for no apparent reason” in the redacted version of the files.
“When Congressman Massie and I pointed this out to the Department of Justice, they acknowledged their mistake, and now they have revealed the identity of these six, powerful men,” Khanna said. “These men are Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, Nicola Caputo, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO of Dubai Ports World, and billionaire businessman Leslie Wexner, who was labeled as a co-conspirator by the FBI.”
Khanna and Massie had mentioned the six men who were “likely incriminated” in the files on Monday. The two lawmakers have advocated that all non-victim names should be unredacted in the files.
Massie and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche went back and forth on X on Monday night over the redactions, with Blanche actively posting updates of the DOJ un-redacting files and asserting, “the DOJ is committed to transparency.”
Of the six names Khanna discussed on Tuesday, Les Wexner and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem are the most high-profile. Wexner, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret and co-founder of Bath and Body Works, was subpoenaed by the House oversight committee in January over his ties to Epstein, with a deposition date of Feb. 18. Sulayem, an Emirati businessman, was allegedly the recipient of an email from Epstein saying he “loved” a “torture video.”
“My question is, why did it take Thomas Massie and me going to the Justice Department to get these six men’s identities to become public? And if we found six men that they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men they are covering up for in those 3 million files,” Khanna said.
WHITE HOUSE STANDS BY HOWARD LUTNICK AS EPSTEIN FILES FALLOUT GROWS
Khanna called for “accountability for the Epstein class” in his speech on the House floor.
In the recent release of the Epstein files, several more high-profile names were mentioned, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch.