DOJ lifts redactions on portions of Epstein files after Massie and Khanna object to hidden co-conspirator names

Several redactions have been removed from documents tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Ro Khanna of California accused the Justice Department of improperly concealing the names of possible co-conspirators. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche made the announcement Monday night.

Earlier in the evening, after reviewing unredacted materials, the lawmakers told reporters that the names of six men who may have been involved in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation — alongside convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell — had been blacked out in records released by the DOJ late last month.

Responding on X to a document cited by Massie, Blanche said the file contained numerous victim names and confirmed that all non-victim names had now been restored. “We have just unredacted all non-victim names from this document,” he wrote, adding that the Justice Department remains committed to transparency.

The document in question, a list of 20 names, previously had 18 redactions. Following the update, only two names remain concealed.

In a separate filing, an FBI document dated August 15, 2019, listing Epstein’s “family and associates,” had the redaction removed from the name of billionaire businessman Les Wexner. The document identifies Wexner as a “co-conspirator,” along with Maxwell, French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, and Epstein’s longtime executive assistant, Lesley Groff.

Blanche noted that Wexner’s name already appears thousands of times throughout the Epstein files, emphasizing that “the DOJ is hiding nothing.”

Massie also argued that the name of a “Sultan” mentioned in an email exchange with Epstein — referencing a “torture video” — should have been unredacted. Blanche pushed back, explaining that the redacted information was an email address and that federal law requires the protection of personally identifiable information.

He added that the Sultan’s name is already publicly available in the unredacted records, suggesting it refers to Emirati businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.

“Be honest and stop grandstanding,” Blanche said in response to Massie’s criticism.