Democratic and Republican lawmakers who reviewed the remaining Department of Justice files on Jeffrey Epstein have disclosed that one victim was as young as nine, and that a senior foreign government official was allegedly part of the financier's sex trafficking network.
Congressmen Jamie Raskin, Ro Khanna, and Thomas Massie examined the documents via a secure terminal at the DOJ headquarters in Washington D.C. They criticised the extensive redactions applied by government lawyers, questioning why names and photographs of six men had been blacked out.
“I saw a mention of a nine-year-old girl today. I mean, this is just preposterous and scandalous,” Raskin said. Massie noted a reference to an individual “pretty high up in a foreign government” involved in Epstein's circle, and Khanna called the redactions “really concerning”.
Massie, who helped push the Epstein Files Transparency Act through Congress, said he may use parliamentary privilege to broadcast the withheld names from the floor or in a committee hearing to avoid potential lawsuits. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded to Massie's social media posts, urging him to “stop grandstanding” and affirming the DOJ’s commitment to transparency.
The DOJ has released about 3.5 million files from over six million, including videos and images, but many remain unpublished. Epstein survivors aired a Super Bowl advert demanding full disclosure. The document drop also intensified scrutiny of Epstein associates, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and former UK ambassador Peter Mandelson.
Ghislaine Maxwell appeared virtually before a congressional hearing but pleaded the Fifth, refusing to answer questions. Her lawyer stated she was prepared to speak if protected by immunity.
