US lawmakers say Justice Department hid six names in Epstein files

Six names of prominent men were removed without explanation by the US Department of Justice from files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, triggering criticism from members of the US Congress who were granted access to unredacted documents on February 9.

The Justice Department had announced on January 30 that it released more than three million pages from the Epstein case, much of the material partially redacted. The department said the disclosure fulfilled requirements under a transparency law adopted in November 2025, which mandated full clarification of the politically sensitive case under the Trump administration.

Following the release, lawmakers from both major US parties were allowed to review less-redacted versions of the documents on site via secure computer access. Among them were the two co-authors of the transparency law in the House of Representatives: Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democrat Ro Khanna of California.

After examining the files, both lawmakers said they were alarmed that the names of at least six men had been concealed without justification. Massie told reporters that one of the individuals whose name was blacked out holds a senior position within a foreign government. Khanna added that another of the redacted individuals is a “fairly prominent figure.” In some cases, the lawmakers said, the files even contained photographs of the men whose names had been removed.

The lawmakers declined to publicly identify the individuals. However, they stressed that the law allows redactions only under narrow conditions, primarily to protect the privacy of victims. It explicitly prohibits withholding information to prevent reputational damage to government officials, public figures, or foreign dignitaries, or on the grounds that the material is politically sensitive.

Khanna noted that a significant portion of the documents they reviewed remained redacted. He explained that this was partly because the files had already been censored when originally supplied to the Justice Department by the FBI or by grand juries.

Massie said Congress should give the Justice Department an opportunity to correct what he described as errors. “They need to review their own work or have someone else review it,” he said, calling for the unexplained redactions to be reassessed.

The department’s deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, had said on January 30 that the newly released material does not contain evidence likely to lead to further criminal prosecutions.

While the presence of a person’s name in the Epstein files does not in itself indicate criminal wrongdoing, the disclosures have heightened concern among public figures about potential political or reputational consequences stemming from past associations with Epstein.

By Tamilla Hasanova