Epstein Files: Khanna Names 6 Previously Redacted Individuals in House Disclosure

Washington — Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna revealed the names of six men whose identities were initially redacted from files related to the late Jeffrey Epstein during a speech on the House floor Tuesday. The Justice Department has since partially un-redacted documents to reflect those names.

The files, reviewed by CBS News, do not appear to directly implicate the six men in any crimes, and Khanna did not allege any specific wrongdoing. The Justice Department stated Friday that some of the individuals were “completely random” and had no connection to Epstein.

Khanna, however, framed the redactions as a failure of the Justice Department, accusing it of shielding the names of “wealthy, powerful” people “for no apparent reason” when releasing millions of documents pertaining to Epstein.

The six men identified by Khanna include Leslie Wexner, the billionaire who led the parent company of Victoria’s Secret and hired Epstein to manage his finances, and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the former CEO of Dubai-based logistics firm DP World. The others named were Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, and Nicola Caputo.

Khanna said he discovered the names Monday after visiting the Justice Department to review unredacted versions of the Epstein files alongside Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. The bipartisan duo had co-sponsored legislation last year requiring the Justice Department to release nearly all investigative files related to Epstein, with redactions limited to protecting survivor identities and a few other specific circumstances.

After leaving the department, Khanna and Massie informed reporters they found the names while searching through documents for a portion of the afternoon. They suggested there are likely others still hidden within the millions of pages of files.

“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 on the House floor Tuesday.

Late Monday, Massie pointed to a trio of documents where the six names appeared, prompting the Justice Department to partially un-redact those files. These include a 2019 FBI document referring to Wexner as a “co-conspirator,” email correspondence between Epstein and bin Sulayem, and a list of 20 names that includes the four less-well-known individuals. The context or purpose of that list remains unclear, and it does not appear to contain any allegations.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a social media post Friday evening that some of the men were “completely random people selected years ago for an FBI lineup.” Blanche likely referred to the four men on the list of 20, as the Justice Department maintains they have no connection to Epstein or his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.

A legal representative for Wexner told CBS News that a federal prosecutor informed Wexner’s legal counsel in 2019 that Wexner was considered a source of information regarding Epstein and was not a target of any investigation. Wexner reportedly cooperated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again. Wexner, who is mentioned elsewhere in the documents, has stated he severed ties with Epstein after his crimes became public and has not been charged with a crime.

CBS News has reached out to bin Sulayem and is attempting to contact the other four men for comment.

In a series of social media posts Monday, Blanche accused Massie of “grandstanding” and asserted that the Justice Department is “hiding nothing.”

A Justice Department spokesperson defended the department’s handling of the files to CBS News, stating that the department has consistently cautioned that, with 3.5 million pages of documents, redaction teams may have inadvertently redacted individuals or failed to redact those who should have been. The spokesperson added that four of the six names mentioned by Khanna appear in only one document out of all the files, while Wexner is referenced nearly 200 times and bin Sulayem over 4,700 times.

Since the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law by President Trump in November, the Justice Department has released a massive trove of records on Epstein and Maxwell. These files contain details of the sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and new revelations about the powerful individuals with whom the disgraced financier cultivated close ties. However, inclusion in the files does not constitute evidence of wrongdoing.

The department has faced criticism from congressional Democrats regarding its handling of the redaction process, with some accusing it of over-redacting the files. Attorneys for Epstein survivors have also claimed the department failed to properly redact their clients’ names before publishing the files to a government database.

The department has said that hundreds of lawyers have reviewed the documents to identify and redact survivors’ names, a significant undertaking given the sheer volume of records. In some instances, the department has temporarily removed files to redact names it initially missed.

Concerns about redactions persisted Monday after the Justice Department allowed lawmakers to view unredacted versions of the files in person. Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told reporters he observed “names of lots of people who were redacted for mysterious or baffling or inscrutable reasons.”