California Democratic Representative Ro Khanna has come under scrutiny after the US Justice Department clarified that four of six men he named on the House floor as associates of Jeffrey Epstein have no connection to the disgraced financier. The men were instead part of a photo lineup assembled by the Southern District of New York for investigative purposes.
The controversy began when Khanna and Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie pushed for the unredaction of names in recently released Epstein files. On Tuesday, Khanna read a list of six names, accusing the Department of Justice of hiding “wealthy, powerful men”. However, a spokesperson for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told the Guardian the document was a standard photo lineup used by law enforcement and that the individuals were “random people selected years ago for an FBI lineup”.
Two of the men named—Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, an Emirati billionaire who resigned as CEO of DP World, and retail magnate Leslie Wexner—do have public profiles. The other four, Salvatore Nuarte, Leonid Leonov, Zurab Mikeladze, and Nicola Caputo, were not connected to Epstein. Nuarte and Leonov, both from New York, strongly denied any knowledge of Epstein. Nuarte questioned how to clear his name, while Leonov said he had “no connection whatsoever”.
When contacted by the Guardian, Khanna said the Justice Department should have explained the nature of the list earlier. “They have failed to protect survivors, created confusion for innocent men, and have protected rich and powerful abusers,” he wrote on X. Massie, who co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, has been critical of the handling of the files, noting that victims’ names appeared unredacted while some wealthy associates were redacted.
The file in question contained 20 names and photos, sourced to the NYPD for most individuals and to Palm Beach authorities for Epstein and Maxwell. The Justice Department has not commented on the identities of the two other men Khanna named that do have apparent Epstein ties.
